HIV

Peter Drucker defines knowledge as "Information that changes something or somebody-either by becoming grounds for actions or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action." This definition highlights both individual and corporate aspects of knowledge. KM models focus on what kinds of information move through a system, how the information moves and the relationship of information to processes of change within that system. A number of biomedical models have suggested that the HIV virus can change other information at the level of the DNA of a CD4 cell. In this way, it is suggested, the Virus uses corrupted immune system cells to create replicas of itself thus compromising the ability of the immune system to defend against opportunistic infections. Because of this, HIV itself can be framed as knowledge in it has the ability to change other information.

A simple KM approach focuses on how knowledge is shared in a system: Within any environment, we expect to find people who are being infected with HIV while there are those who are not being infected. A KM framework might ask the following questions:

• How are those not getting infected by the disease organising and synthesising their experience differently from those who are getting infected?

• Do those not getting infected have access to different information, technologies, organising metaphors or skills in contrast to those who are getting infected?
• Are they accessing different kinds of learning experiences by virtue of their role, status, gender, socioeconomic class, literacy level, access to technology, financial means, etc?
• What are their skill sets with regards to preventing the spread of HIV?
• How could these skills be transferred to those who do not have them?
• What are the beliefs and stories that circulate around HIV?

Virology has provided our culture with many useful insights and the term 'viral' and the viral metaphor spring up in the form of computer viruses, viral marketing, memetics and memeplexes. Human beings are by nature metaphorical beings and understand complex concepts through metaphor and analogy. In other words, we understand something in terms of something else.

However, trying to understand a virus in terms of a virus throws the thinker into ever more greatly convoluted loops of logic. To think about HIV, what we need is a good metaphor for HIV - what is it 'like'? What organisms or systems do we know of that do the things HIV does? Could the emergent properties of billions of human beings transacting with each other be doing to our planet what HIV does to our bodies?

By: Alice Yungungu, Alice Songok, Patrick Mulinge - MOI UNIVERSITY, KENYA

HIV and AIDS has had a devastating social and economic impact in Africa. The continent is losing a lot of resources in form of reduced work productivity, absenteeism from work, deaths and funeral expenses, replacements and training of new personnel. The situation regarding the disabled and HIV and AIDS in Africa is in need of more attention because they are more susceptible to contracting HIV and AIDS compared to their non-disabled peers.