NAVO Protectoraat Kosovo Aids
U. Woudenberg - 03.01.2003 18:59
Na (en dankzij!) de bezetting door KFOR troepen heeft de georganiseerde misdaad haar volledige vrijheid naar het voorbeeld van de rest van Oost-Europa
KOSOVO: AIDS FEARS
Doctors believe prostitution may account for the growing number of HIV
cases in the protectorate.
By Dren Berisha in Pristina (Bron: Balkan Crisis Reports, London)
A Ukrainian prostitute in Pristina went to her doctor last month
complaining of a cold. It turned out she had AIDS - setting alarm bells
ringing across Kosovo.
"She had had many contacts with Kosovar men," said Jusuf Dushaj,
epidemiologist and the head of the National Institute for Public Health.
"We are highly concerned."
The case is significant because doctors here have long suspected that the
explosion in the number of prostitutes here since the 1999 conflict is
responsible for the spread of HIV infection.
Health specialists have been unable to test prostitutes for the Aids virus
because they have no authority to approach the illegal brothels they work
for.
So far 43 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Kosovo - just over half
of them have died. But the true scale of the problem could be much
greater, according to Elviana Berani, spokesperson for the United Nations
Development Programme, UNDP, in the protectorate.
"Specialists say that for every person identified as HIV positive, there
are at least 100 others who may have been infected," she said. "If we use
this logic about 4,300 people could be infected in Kosovo. But, for the
moment, there is no proof that such a formula applies here."
Identities of infected persons have been kept secret for fear of stirring
up prejudice against their families. Prior to the prostitute being
diagnosed last month, the only other victim named was a 13-year-old boy
who caught AIDS from his parents, both of whom subsequently died.
Doctors say people in Kosovo don't like to say how they have contracted
the virus - making it harder to cope with - but they strongly suspect that
the infection is linked to the 140 bars and clubs where prostitutes
operate.
Many of them are close to petrol stations where casual customers may stop
off for a while and then quickly disappear. "We have closed down some 40
of these places in the past nine months but they soon reopen under another
name," said Barry Fletcher, the UNMIK police spokesperson in Kosovo.
In addition to local men, international officials and western troops and
law enforcement officers are believed to frequent the region's brothels.
Not long ago, ten overseas policemen left Kosovo after being accused of
using prostitutes.
The director general of the International Organisation for Migration, IOM,
Brunson McKinley, said strenuous efforts should be made to address the
problem. "I think, KFOR, UNMIK and the Kosovars themselves should do more
to root it out," he said.
Also believed to be contributing to the rise in HIV infection is the fact
that over the past few years Kosovars have travelled extensively abroad in
search of work. "Some of them contracted the virus there," Berani said.
An International Day Against AIDS was held on December 1 when the Kosovo
media sought to heighten public awareness of the dangers of unprotected
sex. Their success was questionable. "Ask me about mines or automatic
weapons and I can give all the answers," said Behar Ahmeti, a 20-year-old
from Pristina. "But AIDS, I've only just started hearing about it."
His response is typical and illustrates the fact that despite efforts to
draw attention to the problem, Kosovan society still does not recognise
the serious risk posed by prostitution. "Nobody believes a brief sexual
encounter can cost you your life," said Dedushaj.
Dren Berisha is the pseudonym of an independent journalist in Kosovo.
 Website: http://www.geocities.com/woudenberg1/Index.html
|
