by Tsitsi Singizi – SANF 04 no 57
Poverty remains the biggest and most immediate hurdle in the fight against HIV and AIDS in southern Africa. This came out strongly at the inaugural Zimbabwe national AIDS conference, held from 14 – 18 June 2004.
The national AIDS Conference, held under the theme Taking Stock: Looking to the Future, sought to provide a forum to share programme successes, lessons learned and current model activities in order to point the way forward to national expansion of these successes.
Former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe and several ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries concurred that while there are widespread calls for provision of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) in the region, lack of basic necessities and poverty remain enormous challenges.
Officially opening the conference, President Mugabe acknowledged that lack of financial resources by the government was a hindrance in the provision of care for people living with HIV and AIDS.
“Regrettably, the current drug costs mean we can only reach 10,000 patients. Clearly, there is a need to mobilise more resources and build sustainable partnerships, so that we can reach more patients.”
Current efforts by the Zimbabwean government have involved rolling out the prevention of mother to child transmission programmes to 43 of the country’s 53 districts and initiating ARV treatment at the country’s two major referral hospitals.
Citing the important initiatives and efforts that had been made in southern Africa, the two leaders emphasised the need to address the basic needs of people living with HIV and AIDS that include food, clothing, shelter and access to health services.
Addressing more than 750 delegates to the conference, Kaunda recounted his country’s experience with HIV and AIDS and how impoverishment had worsened the impact of the epidemic in southern Africa.
“We cannot fight AIDS if we do not tackle the poverty in our region … the drugs are not as useful as when taken by someone who can afford good food,” he said.
The lack of good nutrition for people living with HIV and AIDS presents yet another challenge to be addressed. Statistics highlight that families who have chronically ill patients are concerned about the availability of food more than anything else.
Addressing the delegates on the second day of the conference, South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the importance of nutrition could not be ignored in southern Africa. She pointed out that while ARVs are important, the need for adequate nutrition cannot be over emphasised.
Agreeing with the South African minister, Kaunda noted that it was lack of food that led to death and not AIDS in most communities. “We have seen frail men in our clinics, almost dead but recovering fully after being well fed,” he added.
In Zimbabwe, which is already facing serious food shortages, malnutrition has been identified as exacerbating the condition of people living with HIV and AIDS. “Malnutrition affects 90 percent of HIV and AIDS patients … it is also responsible for 60 to 80 percent of AIDS deaths,” noted nutritionist Percy Chipepera, also attending the conference.
Speaking at a press briefing during the conference, the Angolan Deputy Minister of Health, Jose van Dunem, also reinforced the importance of nutrition. “In southern Africa nutrition is a critical issue. If there is to be a holistic approach to HIV and AIDS then the issue of nutrition needs to be addressed,” he said.
Another emerging issue was that of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). As the growing number of children losing parents to AIDS undermines already overstretched communities and extended families, the region is faced with the challenge to provide a framework for targeted interventions to ensure that laws protecting children are enforced.
In an effort to respond to the ballooning orphan crisis, the Zimbabwean government is set to launch a national plan of action for orphans and vulnerable children.
The inaugural national AIDS conference provided a forum for sharing experiences locally and regionally. The conference also highlighted the need for co-ordination of interventions both locally and regionally in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
The director general of the central board of Health in Zambia, Ben Chirwa applauded Zimbabwe’s level of coordination in the response to HIV and AIDS adding that such synergies needed to be replicated in the region.
“We are very impressed by Zimbabwe’s concept of one national strategic plan, one coordinating body and one monitoring and evaluating framework. This shows coordination, even the formation of the national AIDS council through an act of parliament. This is something you take for granted as Zimbabweans, but we are grappling with in Zambia and other countries in the region,” he said.
Zimbabwe has introduced a unified monitoring and evaluation system in response to the AIDS pandemic.
Chirwa also urged SADC countries to identify what was working through best practices in Zimbabwe so as to address similar problems being faced in other countries.
He said, “In SADC, the concept is that if one country has made progress in one particular area, others should support it. There are many lessons to be learned from the Zimbabwean experiences.”
Chirwa went on to explain that Zambia had already rolled out ARVs countrywide and Zimbabwe could learn from their experiences.
(SARDC)
