Assessing alternatives in managing HIV positive officer candidates under training in the South African Navy

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has the world's highest adult HIV infection rate in the world. Expertsestimate that over 1 500 people are being infected with the HIV virus per day inSouth Africa. The virus is undoubtedly having a negative impact on the labourpopulation of the country and will ultimately affect the productivity of South Africa.The Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, firmly denounces any form ofunfair discrimination. The White Paper on Defence charges the South AfricanNational Defence Force (SANDF) to be an operationally ready force.The potentially crippling effect HIV and AIDS can have on the effectiveness ofSANDF is an area that needs to be researched. The military environment isunique in that it is considered to be a high-risk organisation in terms of HIVinfection. Overseas deployment, male-dominated environments, risk-takingethos and monthly income are all elements that accelerate the spread of HIVwithin the SANDF. The SANDF is a dominant member of the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC) and is involved in Peace Support Operations(PSO) throughout the African continent. This military intervention is predicted toincrease with time. HIV in sub-Saharan Africa has infected over 30 millionpeople – many with little or no primary health care.The South African coastline is nearly 3 000km in length with six world-classharbours. These are strategic points that contribute to South Africa's economicprosperity on the African continent. It is the SA Navy's role to ensure that theseharbours are well-guarded. The personnel responsible for patrolling the waters ofthe South African coastline need to be exposed to the proper training to becompetent at this task.Military training needs to prepare learners in the event of combat. Thissimulation of the combat environment may lead to injuries that heighten thethreat of HIV transmission. SANDF training units traditionally discharge those members who are medically unable to complete the mental and physicalrequirements of the course. The Military Training for Officers Part One (MTO1)course of the SA Navy is no different. HIV has created a new dynamic in thatmedical confidentiality protects the status of those people who are infected.Current SANDF policy does not offer sufficient guidelines to training units whendealing with learners who are infected with HIV. Human rights areconstitutionally protected and unfair discrimination of any form is prohibited. TheSANDF still needs to be operationally deployable and uniform members with HIVhinder this requirement. The question really is: is it fair discrimination todisallow/remove uniform members from the MTO1 course if they are HIVpositive?The purpose of this research is to establish what the best practises would be inmanaging HIV positive learners in the military training environment. The workenvironment would have to be researched to determine whether or not the threatof HIV transmission exists. Learners would be approached to determine if theyfelt they were at risk during training exercises. The training staff who execute thetraining exercises would need to be asked if they felt endangered or exposed toHIV infection during these exercises. Military medical personnel who deal witheither training or HIV in their everyday jobs would then review this data.The social stigma surrounding HIV is one of the challenges within this researchdesign. The ethics and legality of mandatory HIV testing in the SANDF is anarea that has sparked reaction from human rights movements. Thecompromising of human rights for the sake national security is an area ofproportionality that raises new debates with the advent of HIV.There are various alternatives of managing HIV within the SANDF that should beconsidered. The current SANDF HIV policy is, at best, vague when dealing withspecific training issues. This research intends on making policy-makers within the SANDF aware of the need to make definitive policy decisions to ensure thatHIV does not compromise the effectiveness of the SANDF.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University