エイズ大流行で生まれた「孤児の集団」 南アフリカ

【ヨハネスブルクＡＦＰ＝時事】南アフリカ最大都市ヨハネスブルク近郊に暮らすヌドゥミソ・ガメデさん（２８）は、１３歳で両親を亡くした。同国では当時、後天性免疫不全症候群（ＡＩＤＳ、エイズ）が猛威を振るっており、２人ともエイズウイルス（ＨＩＶ）陽性だった。（写真は資料写真）
　孤児となったガメデさんは、孤立無援の中、偏見や貧困と闘いながら２人の弟を育てなければならなかった。最も多感な１０代の頃、頼れる大人は一人もいなかった。生き延びるため「犯罪まがい」のことに手を染め、罪悪感を振り払うため薬物にも手を出した。
　１２月１日は「世界エイズデー」。南アのＨＩＶ感染率は１３．７％と、依然として世界で最も高い水準にあるが、抗レトロウイルス薬（ＡＲＶ）が普及したことで、死者数は激減した。現在、推定８２０万人のＨＩＶ感染者のうち５４０万人以上がＡＲＶを服用しており、世界最大級のＨＩＶ治療プログラムが進められている。
　ケープタウンを拠点とするＨＩＶ／エイズ支援団体ネットワークによると、ＡＲＶの普及を受け、ＨＩＶ感染で親を亡くした「エイズ孤児」の数も減少した。

■暗黒の時代

　国連合同エイズ計画によれば、南アのエイズ孤児は２００９年には１９０万人だったが、２０２１年には９６万人となった。エイズ流行は、若い親を中心に失われた世代を生み出した。
　デズモンド・ツツＨＩＶ財団代表のリンダゲイル・ベッカー教授は、「２０００年代初めの暗黒の時代に大勢が死亡し、それが孤児の大集団を生んだ」と語る。
　ガメデさんの両親が亡くなった当時のターボ・ムベキ政権は、「エイズ否認主義」に根差していた。米ハーバード大学の研究では、誤った政策と偽医療の推進により３３万人以上が死亡したとされる。

■エイズの被害さえなければ

　孤児の中には、身分証明書の取得さえままならない人もいる。
　ヨハネスブルクでエイズ孤児のためのシェルターを運営するノンランラ・マザレニ氏は、支援する若者のうち２１人は身分証を持っていないと話した。２歳で保護され、現在２４歳の男性は耳が聞こえず、無職だが、身分証がないため障害者給付金の申請もできない。
　ガメデさんは、一児の父となった。「自宅」と呼ぶ薄暗いガレージで、自身のミュージックビデオが流れるモニターを誇らしげに眺め、ビートに合わせて首を振りながら歌う。床にはウレタンマットが敷かれ、ベビーベッドが置かれている。
　ラップ音楽に安らぎを求めつつ仕事を探しているが、勉強を続けられなかったため困難に直面している。ＨＩＶ／エイズ孤児の若者グループを主催したり、セラピーの一環としてガーデニング教室を主催したりしているが、生活は苦しい。
　もしもエイズで家族が崩壊していなかったなら、と考える。「機会は簡単に手に入っただろう。人生はこんなものではなかったはずだ」とガメデさんは言った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/12/01-20:08）

At the age of 13, Ndumiso Gamede was orphaned when his parents died at the peak of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
He was left to raise his two young brothers -- a gruelling battle against isolation, stigma and poverty.
Gamede, now aged 28, points to pictures of his parents hanging on the wall in a low-lit boxy garage he calls home.
They were both HIV positive, he said.
He said he had no-one to guide him during his most vulnerable teenage years and almost did crime just to survive, and drugs to cope.
As World AIDS Day looms on December 1, the plight of South Africa's AIDS orphans remains a stain on a country that has otherwise made huge inroads into epidemic.
National prevalence of the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS is still among the highest on the globe, at 13.7 percent.
But deaths have dramatically fallen, thanks to a rollout of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) -- drugs that, through a tragic combination of cost and political denial, were not available to poor South Africans when the disease was at its zenith.
More than 5.4 million out of an estimated 8.2 million infected people take ARVs in South Africa, which has one of the world's biggest HIV treatment programmes.
The lifesaving drugs also mean that the number of infected AIDS orphans has declined, said Agnes Mokoto, who runs an orphan programme at the Cape Town-based charity Networking HIV and AIDS Community of Southern Africa.
- 'Army of orphans' -
According to UNAIDS, there were 960,000 AIDS orphans in South Africa, compared to 1.9 million in 2009. Any child who has lost one or both parents to HIV is defined as an orphan.
The gap in the country's population pyramid due to the epidemic created a lost generation, particularly of young parents.
(In) the dark days at the beginning of the millennium, people were dying in droves, and that created an army of orphans, said Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, head of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Gamede's parents died at a particular painful time, when AIDS denialism was rooted in South Africa's government, starting with the then president, Thabo Mbeki.
According to a Harvard University study, misguided policies and the promotion of quack cures caused more than 330,000 deaths.
Discrimination against people with HIV was intense, and those orphaned by the disease felt it most.
Gamede and his two brothers had to fight to survive after they were shunned by his extended family.
After my parents died, they turned their back on us, they did not want to know... what we lacked, he said deep in thought.
He lives in Vosloorus, a township 30 kilometres (18 miles) southeast of Johannesburg, filled with dusty streets and makeshift dwellings.
- Identity papers -
Even getting documented is an added battle for some orphans.
Nonhlanhla Mazaleni who heads a shelter for AIDS orphans in Johannesburg says she cares for 21 young people who are living with HIV and don't have IDs because they were abandoned after being orphaned.
One of the kids is deaf, he came to us when he was two years old, he's now 24 with no job and because he has no ID, he can't claim for a disability grant, she said.
Now a new father of one, Gamede looks proudly at his computer screen as he plays his music video, singing along as he nods to the beat.
A grey baby crib stands next to Gamede's bed, a foam mattress placed on the floor.
He finds solace in rap music while looking for employment, which he says has proven difficult because he could not further his studies.
He also hosts groups of young people orphaned by HIV/AIDS and offers gardening classes as a form of therapy.
But his life is hard.
Had AIDS not ravaged his family, Gamede believes opportunities... would have been easy. Life would not be like this.