Back to Index , Back to NAC conference index

People living with AIDS key to the fight
Extracted from the UNICEF update from the First Zimbabwean National AIDS Conference June 15-18, 2004
June 15, 2004

HIV infected people are the best disseminators of information when it comes to HIV and AIDS. This was the conclusion reached by participants at a panel discussion on Day One of the conference. One of the panelists, Lynde Francis founding member of The Centre, a pre and post counselling HIV and AIDS body, and who has herself been living with the virus for 18 years, said it was important to use "patient experts" to teach awareness because being HIV-infected they were "more expert" than the actual health experts in that field. She said some of the people who had come to The Centre for counseling had themselves become counselors, to good effect. Changing the perception of HIV-infected people from victims to "proud and loud" providers of service in their communities was one of the most effective ways of dealing with stigma, she added.

Among the panelists discussing the multi-sectoral approach to the issue of care were Hercules Maguma of Varichem, the pharmaceutical company providing generic ARVs, Dr Kadzirange of ZAPP (Zimbabwe Aids Prevention Project), Dr Dhene of UNAIDS and Dr James Dhuri, who was representing the traditional medical practitioners. Sebastian Nyakapanga, another of the panelists and a recipient of ART (anti-retroviral therapy) agreed with the sentiments of Francis. He said to be able to go out and empower others, the process had to "start in your mind", with knowing one's status and to be completely truthful about so as to be able to "do the right thing at the right time". The discussion also concluded that to make real inroads in the fight against the disease, it was important to make the approach women-centered because women had the power to influence their husbands, children and other women while men had little impact.

Participants heard that according to a recent report, 58% of infected in sub Saharan Africa were women while more than 80% of those who had access to treatment were men. The wisdom of simplifying the language of AIDS was discussed, as well as having simplified information leaflets for patients and having all HIV and AIDS stakeholders coordinating their activities rather than doing things separately.

Participants heard that the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is working on guidelines on nutrition while The Centre which has been working with HIV and AIDS infected children for many years without the benefit of ARVs, has available, a booklet on how people can use food as therapy particularly the local traditional cuisine which is both available and affordable.

Participants agreed on the prudence of having second line drugs as part of a backup plan against the development of resistance. Generic ARVs which are said to cost a minimum of Z$150 000 were too high said Dr Dhene of UNAIDS given that internationally, the price of ARVs was as low as US$300 per year. Hercules Maguma of Varichem explained that the cost was determined by the pharmaceutical ingredients but that they were working at reducing the cost.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP