Times Of Swaziland: SEX WORKERS HOLD  INDABA, FEAR  MONKEYPOX

SEX WORKERS HOLD  INDABA, FEAR  MONKEYPOX
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Sabelo Ndzinisa on 31/08/2024 07:33:00


MBABANE – As the kingdom prepares for what promises to be a hectic weekend of
events, there are health concerns related to sex workers and the monkeypox
threat.
The country will be hosting a triple-header of high-profile events, including
the Reed Dance Ceremony, Eswatini International Trade Fair and the bike event to
be hosted at the Rider’s Ranch at Sidvokodvo. It is anticipated that a number
of visitors from different countries will attend some of these events. There was
an indaba for sex workers in the country yesterday, at SibaneSami Hotel, in
Ezulwini, where they raised a number of concerns. They complained of being
excluded from important health discussions, alleging that they are not educated
about how they can protect themselves from diseases like HIV/AIDS and Mpox
formerly known as monkeypox. Important to note is that the Ministry of Health
was represented during this indaba, along with the Human Rights Commission and
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
Vulnerability
It has also been gathered that police were invited to be part of the meeting,
but allegedly did not show up, according to Lungile Khumalo, who handles sex
workers’ issues in the country.
Khumalo admitted to Eswatini News that sex workers are vulnerable to diseases
because they are not educated or capacitated on how to protect themselves. She
said due to financial vulnerability, some sex workers are allegedly raped and
abused by clients, exposing them to infections like HIV/AIDS. “Socially, sex
workers are treated badly, which explains why they are not included in
educational health programmes. We have noted a sharp rise in HIV/AIDS infections
among them, because they are not educated on health preventative measures,”
she said. Khumalo said it was time for government to change the mindset towards
sex workers and embrace them  as part of society. She stated that during the
indaba, the sex workers admitted that they feel left out, not just on health
education, but job opportunities as well.
Deaths
The International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) of South
Africa, notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of 20 confirmed Mpox cases
between May 8 and July 2, 2024, including three deaths (case fatality ratio of
15 per cent). The cases were reported in three of nine provinces, being Gauteng
(10 cases, one death), Western Cape (1 case) and KwaZulu- Natal (9 cases, two
deaths). These were the first cases of Mpox reported in South Africa since 2022,
when the country had reported five cases, none of which were severe and no
deaths reported from them.
It is being suggested that there is potential for increased health impact should
wider dissemination among these and other vulnerable groups in South Africa and
neighbouring countries, continue. Mpox is largely spread through
person-to-person contact, having physical contact with infected bodily fluids,
rashes, sores, scabs or blisters. It could also spread through touching, kissing
or sexual contact, touching contaminated objects used by an infected person such
as bedding, towels or clothing. According to research, people who closely
interact with an infectious person, such as healthcare workers, household
members (including children), sexual partners and sex workers are vulnerable.
Newborn babies, children, people who are pregnant and people with underlying
immune deficiencies, such as from advanced HIV disease, may be at higher risk of
contracting Mpox.
Sex workers’ trade business is making money through sleeping with different
kinds of people on a daily basis. Some of them are said to be sleeping with 10
clients in 24 hours. Eswatini is one of the countries known to have this kind of
business, even though it is not legal in terms of the country’s laws.This kind
of business is mostly prevalent in areas like Mbabane, Ezulwini, Matsapha and
Manzini. There are reports of such happening even in the remote towns like
Nhlangano, Pigg’s Peak and Siteki, among others.
The Eswatini News has also previously reported such business happening even in
rural areas of the country, where syndicates operating in sex-for-money exchange
jobs are known to be in existence by community members. The National Library of
Medicines reported in a recent article that within six months (May 6 to October
3, 2022); the global outbreak of human Mpox virus had spread to 99 non-endemic
countries and disproportionately affected marginalised communities.
Vaccination
“Although Mpox virus poses considerable risk to sex workers, there has been
little to no attention to sex workers in the public health response. To date,
sex workers have not been prioritised in vaccination campaigns in most settings,
with uneven access and prioritisation for men who have sex with men, being
reported. “The HIV and COVID-19 pandemics have highlighted the
disproportionate burden of infection to sex workers across diverse settings and
the urgent need to address the unmet occupational needs of sex workers that must
be considered in the Mpox virus response,” reads the article in part.
Noteworthy is that there have been no known campaigns in the country by health
authorities to capacitate local sex workers on their vulnerability to the Mpox
threat, especially when dealing with visitors from other countries.
Ministry of Health’s Communications Officer Nsindiso Tsabedze was asked
through a questionnaire, about the concerns that sex workers in the country are
being left out on the Mpox discussions, yet they make a living through sex with
different clients, on a daily basis. He was also asked if the ministry had
considered ways of educating sex workers about how they can protect themselves
from this virus, especially because some of their clients are known to be from
outside the country.
This was his response: “The Ministry of Health, through the health promotion
unit, has been actively and robustly educating the nation about Mpox. This is
being done through various media platforms such as radio, television and social
media, as well as during community engagements. Such efforts are made so that
everyone, including the sex workers, gets the information relating to this
disease, in order to make informed decisions.” Adding, Tsabedze said as a
ministry, they are advising all emaSwati to seek information on the disease
online, so that they remain in the know and can be able to protect themselves.
Quizzed further if the sex workers were part of the workshop held over a week
ago to sensitise emaSwati about the dangers of Mpox, the communications
officer’s response was to the negative.
“The recently-held workshops were to capacitate health workers only. These
health workers from various regions and departments, now qualified trainers,
will then transfer the knowledge to other workers at facilities countrywide. The
ministry, through the aid of the World Health Organisation, has seen the need to
upscale preparations for potential Mpox outbreak, by ensuring that health
workers are intellectually prepared to deal with Mpox,” he further said.
Dangers
Tsabedze also assured that there are programmes in place to educate people about
the dangers of this virus at the border gates. He said the ministry, through
workers at strategically picked ports of entry, has been educating travellers
about the Mpox disease. He said their environmental health unit further uses
that port health desks to collect information from travellers through the health
screening programme, he said, the ministry has been sensitising the public
through local media and social media, due to its importance. Tsabedze then
implored all travellers to allocate time in going through the health screening,
so that they assist the country in its effort to prevent the spread of
communicable diseases.
“We will soon be launching a campaign meant to sensitise travellers about Mpox
and other communicable diseases,” he said. On the other hand, Chief Police
Information and Communication Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati
was asked why they did not honour the invitation to be part of the indaba, as
the sex workers raised concerns about how police treat them. This included
allegations of  physical assault ,derogatory language and even rape.  Vilakati
said she would have to check if indeed there was such an invitation. However,
she advised the workers to bring their grievances to the national commissioner
of police (NATCOM).
“It will not help them to generalise such issues, but they must come to see
the national commissioner of police and state their concerns, not in platforms
where we are not present. We do not want to assume that they are part of the
people who hate police. If they were raped or abused by police, they should come
forward with proof,” Vilakati said.