Confidentiality,a double-edged sword
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Now, 76-year-old grandmother Ena* of Mutare, a town on the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, is living with HIV herself. But the burden of caring for her eight orphaned grandchildren remains entirely hers.
"Someone should have told me that my children were dying from AIDS," laments Mbuya, as grandmothers are known colloquially in this part of the world. "I could have taken precaution while I cared for them during their illness. I could have avoided exposing myself to the virus. Now, who will care for me when I eventually fall ill from AIDS? Who will care for my orphaned grandchildren when I die from this disease?"
It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...