The Informer – be informed!

A few weeks ago I was introduced to The Informer, a newspaper format practical guide to HIV and AIDS, produced by Emphasis Media, after I had received a few complimentary copies by mail. We had just been in hectic planning stages to put together a concert series that will hopefully generate more awareness around HIV/AIDS.

We immediately subscribed to the paper, getting into contact with Lauren Rapson (webmaster@net-commerce.co.za), and it seems that we are probably going to strike up some kind of arrangement where they will in future add some interesting material to this blog.

It is an amazing publication – especially when I am at a stage where I am searching for information to educate myself better, and want to know what other people and organizations are doing to highlight and fight HIV/AIDS. It’s the kind of publication that all business’s should subscribe to (R81,60 for 12 issues… ja, peanuts); to have on waiting-room magazine tables; in staff canteens and smoking rooms; in doctors practices; in factories and coffee-shops.

It has such a wide variety of articles and news items, and even though I have only seen one edition so far, I am sure that this is one of the most relevant publications around.

Some of the headlines from Volume 5 include: Musicians make magic: Child-headed households to get support through money raised; HIV/AIDS & Human Rights; Let’s talk about… Female Condoms; Legal Issues on HIV/AIDS – Informed and health-wise: What you need to know about a medical aid scheme; Ask the Doc, and several other areas where you can write in and ask all those questions you’re normally too embarrassed to ask.

Awesome stuff. And well done to Emphasis Media for putting this much needed information together.

Orphans today, leaders tomorrow?

 

HIV/AIDS is going to have huge economic repercussions in South Africa, and the rest of the continent, not only in battling the disease, but also looking after those that are infected. But what about those that are left behind; the orphans and other vulnerable children, of which there are some 1 200 000 (2005) in South Africa, whose lives have been torn apart.

These children have to carry on some way or another, and while we will hear of some success stories, others will surely break your heart. So I started looking at what is being done about taking care of these children, and which organizations are involved?

Since my wife, Lenny, moved to South Africa in 1995, her grandmother in the Netherlands would knit children’s clothing, pack it all up into a box and mail it off to us to donate to the Nazareth House, in Vredehoek. Nazareth House gives orphans some light in their lives, as most of the children that end up there haven’t that long to go, or have been abandoned. It’s received major coverage, especially when the late Lady Di high-lighted the homes cause, and having been there so many times, I can say that the Sisters there do a special job!

I read recently about Noah (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity), an organization that set up a model that focuses on empowering communities to create sustainable networks of care for their orphaned and vulnerable children.

They set up Arks, where, through community representation and volunteers, they are able to use the volunteers as the eye’s and ears of government and Noah, and actually make a difference on ground-level where it’s really needed. It sounds like a good model, with a hands-on approach, as opposed to endless meetings to discuss what the next meeting will be about…

“The future of South Africa depends on what kind of citizens our orphans of AIDS grow up to be. Today they live in our world. Tomorrow we will live in theirs” Noah

HIV/AIDS info in Afrikaans

I was very interested to hear that even though there is evidence of an ever increasing incidence of HIV infections occuring in South Africa, there is not very much information on HIV/AIDS in Afrikaans. Most of this countries HIV/AIDS information is presented in English, and so I was quite pleased to find this video, made by Rev. Freddie Steenkamp from Jeffery’s Bay, about how HIV/AIDs can be contracted.

How is HIV passed on?

It is easy to get involved in all the technical and medical speak that surrounds HIV/AIDS with all the information that is available online, regarding the drugs research, projects aimed at combating the disease, and stories by people that are infected. But its also easy to forget that we do not always know the basics, such as how HIV can or can’t be transmitted.

So I went on a search to find an easy way of understanding how the virus is passed on, and also some of the myths that make it easy to discriminate against HIV positive people.

The best explanation was from the BBC:

How’s HIV passed on?

HIV is a virus that damages a person’s immune system, the body’s defence against disease. A person infected with HIV is infected for life – there’s no cure. Being infected with HIV is often referred to as being HIV-positive.

Over time, as the immune system weakens, a person with HIV may develop rare infections or cancers. When these are particularly serious, the person is said to have AIDS.

HIV can only be passed on through the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. The two main ways in which a person can become infected are:

• vaginal or anal sexual intercourse (without a condom) with an infected person
• using a needle or syringe that’s already been used by someone who’s infected

An infected pregnant woman can also pass the virus to her unborn baby, before or during the birth.

Other potential routes of transmission include:

• Giving and receiving first aid, although transmission will only occur if significant amounts of HIV-infected blood pass from one person to another.
• Contact with used needles and syringes.
• Giving and receiving oral sex, although there are very few proven instances of this. Generally, transmission will only occur if a person has cuts or sores in their mouth.
• Seeing a dentist, doctor or nurse. It’s extremely rare for HIV to be passed from a healthcare professional to a patient, as all medical instruments are sterilised or used only once.
• Fighting and biting. There have been extremely few cases of infection in such cases.
• Kissing, although generally this won’t pass on HIV as saliva doesn’t contain a high enough concentration of HIV. The only risk would be if both people had noticeably bleeding cuts and sores in their mouths.
• Sport. The only risk in sport is if HIV-infected blood gets into a wound or a cut.

It’s important to emphasise that even though the risk of transmission through any of the above is small, it still remains and care should always be taken.

Although blood transfusions and use of blood products are a potential route of transmission, all blood in the UK has been screened for HIV since 1985.

HIV isn’t passed on by:

• sharing crockery and cutlery
• touching, hugging or shaking hands
• using the same toilet
• insect or animal bites

Here is a video I found dealing with some of the myths that surround the disease, and how you can or can’t be infected, presented by Dr. Becky Kuhn, the creator of Global Lifeworks.

HIV/AIDS in the classroom

The Minister of Education recently launched the Higher Education HIV & AIDS (HEAIDS) programme. The challenge faced by the higher education sector with regard to HIV/AIDS is succinctly captured in the following statement from the Association of African Universities: ‘To a greater degree than ever before, African universities must renew their commitment to help Africa find effective solutions to its perennial problems of hunger, poverty and disease. In particular, the HIV/AIDS crisis poses a serious threat to African societies within which universities are situated. We need to recognise that the solution to this problem might well lie in Africa. African universities must, in any event, be in the forefront of research, education and action in this matter.’

As a nationally coordinated effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS, HEAIDS seeks to strengthen the capacity, systems and structures of all higher education institutions in managing and mitigating the causes, challenges and consequences of HIV/AIDS in the sector and to strengthen the leadership role that can and should be played by the higher education sector.

According to the minister, one of the first activities of the HEAIDS programme will be a national survey involving a sample of 25 000 staff and students, to establish HIV prevalence on the campuses and to understand the beliefs and behaviour of students as they relate to HIV/AIDS.

A second area of activity that will take shape soon is the focus on equipping student teachers to deal more effectively with the challenges they will face as they enter the classroom. More detailed content on HIV and AIDS in the teaching curriculum will be developed and more time will be spent on developing the skills that teachers need to respond to learners living with the virus or affected by its impact on their families.

The Shuttleworth Foundation Newsletter – May 2007

Positive kids projects @ Groote Schuur

This morning I found this video of a project that is happening at Groote Schuur Hospital called the Kids + Positive Project, and wanted to get it onto the HIVe.

After quite abit of struggle, Rowan from MyVideo came to the rescue, and managed to get the vid into this post, and looking a little more funky than it was before! For your ease of viewing!

KIDS + POSITIVE PROJECT from MyVideo.co.za

SELF SUSTAINING BEAD PROJECT WHICH FINANCES HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN TO RECEIVE MEDICATION AND TREATMENT AT THE GROOTE SCHUUR HOSPITAL

And hopefully for you to see that projects are running all over the country – projects that make a difference – no matter how small.

Perhaps we should all be looking for a local project to support, one that brings you into contact with the local community initiatives that make a difference on the ground. People are always quick to send away fund-raisers and charity telemarketers, but these organisations need our help – so go out there and find one that you’d like to support.

It’s the right thing to do.

Bureaucratic red tape kills

It is a disgusting fact that bureaucratic red tape kills people; and never more so than in the case of getting life-saving drugs registered by the Medicines Control Council (M.C.C.); and by the big pharmaceutical companies that develop these drugs.

On the 22^nd of February, the T.A.C. (Treatment Action Campaign) marched on the headquarters of Aspen Pharmacare, to petition them to start supplying Tenofovir (trade name Viread) – an antiretroviral that has less side-effects than d4T, and is also only taken once a day along with the combination of other drugs.

In short…

Tenofovir (Trade name Viread) is an anti-HIV drug approved by the FDA (In October of 2001) to be used in combination with other HIV fighting medications. Viread belongs to a new class of drugs called Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NtRTI). These are related to Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTI) like zidovudine (AZT, Retrovir). The body converts Viread into a chemical that prevent HIV from reproducing in uninfected cells, but it does not help cells that have already been infected with the virus. As people with HIV lose CD4 cells – one of the immune system’s main defenses – they become more likely to get infections and illnesses.

Just so that it is understood – this drug is used to boost the immune system, and not to cure the disease…

Currently available anti-HIV drugs like AZT need three separate chemical steps before they are active. Viread needs only two chemical reactions (phosphorylation) to occur before it can start working. Partly due to this unique chemical feature, Viread also carries a “negative charge”, allowing it to stay in the cells where it is active for a longer period. As a result, Viread only needs to be taken once a day.

Released in the USA in October 2001, the T.A.C. blames Aspen & Gilead Sciences, and the M.C.C., for delays that saw Tenofovir finally being registered in April 2007. Stephen Saad, CEO of Aspen Pharmacare responded to the T.A.C.’s petition by saying that they “… have worked hard to produce this product, and have spent over R20 million on its research and manufacturing. The drugs are at this moment in our warehouses. But we cannot legally distribute them or make them available without authorization from the M.C.C.” (The Informer).

There has to be a way that this registration process is shortened. Trials and testing are going to be a factor, but I do not think that this causes the delay. Bureaucracy is responsible for suffering, and in some cases, shortening peoples lives, and I don’t really care who blames who – HIV/AIDS is an international problem that needs immediate action for everyone!

Natural medicine and HIV/AIDS – fighting together

I know that there is as yet no cure for HIV/AIDS through Western medicine, and so wanted to learn more about research into Traditional medicine, and whether the two combined can find a breakthrough.

I understand that nutrition and excersize lead to a stronger body, and that this does fight off infection and illness in all of us, so it stands to reason that with HIV/AIDS patients it should have similar advantages. I know that modern Western medicine is a must in the later stages of the diseases, and that it does keep people alive a lot longer. So where does and can traditional medicine fit into the equation?

I found an article on a site dedicated to Credo Mutwa, a world renowned Zulu Shaman, about Sutherlandia frutescens, a plant that is found mostly in the drier areas of Southern Africa, and has been used for a long time by the different cultures of the region as a multi-purpose medicinal plant.

In trying to understand HIV/AIDS, I have to ask questions about all the information that is thrown at me, to be able to grasp what is available and working for people, who want to combat it.

The Sutherlandia website says that it gives HIV/AIDS “…patients a new lease of life, thanks to the use of a range of herbal medication, most importantly Sutherlandia, which has shown incredible results on patients staring at a slow and ghastly death.”

“Sutherlandia frutescens is regarded as the most profound and multi-purpose of the medicinal plants in Southern Africa. Because of its efficacy as a safe tonic for diverse health conditions it has enjoyed a long history of use by all cultures in Southern Africa.”

“Improvements in appetite, weight-gain, sleep, exercise tolerance, anxiety and overall sense of well-being can be expected. Researchers anticipate that there will be a delayed progression of HIV into Aids, and actual remission of the disease is hoped for.”

This is just one example of the wealth of natural remedies available that should be fully explored for their medicinal qualities in preserving a longer quality of life. It is not implied that this type of medicine takes the place of Western medicine, or that it will cure the disease – we still have much research to do before that will happen.

But will that medicine contain ingredients already known to ancient cultures? Is there enough research been done to investigate this? I’ll let you know what I find.

UNAIDS December 2006 update

We are part of history in the making… 

“The HIV epidemics in Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland continue to grow. An estimated one in three (33%) adults in Swaziland was living with HIV in 2005—the most intense epidemic in the world.

In South Africa, which in terms of sheer numbers has one of the world’s largest HIV epidemics, prevalence of HIV among women attending public antenatal clinics was more than one third (35%) higher in 2005 than it had been in 1999. While HIV infection levels among young pregnant women appear to be stabilizing, they continue to increase among older women.

The epidemic is having a significant impact. Death rates from natural causes for women aged 25–34 years increased fivefold between 1997 and 2004, and for males aged 30–44 they more than doubled. A large part of those increases is due to the AIDS epidemic.”

In some parts of the continent, something seems to be working…

“In East Africa, where HIV infection levels have been lower than in the south of the continent, the general trend of a stabilizing or a declining HIV prevalence appears to be continuing.

National HIV prevalence among pregnant women has declined in Kenya, as it has in Tanzania and, to a lesser extent, in Rwanda. “

I am sure that war and political instability has had effects…

“Meanwhile, new research indicates a possible erosion of the gains Uganda made against AIDS in the 1990s, and HIV prevalence has again been rising in some rural areas. A sudden increase in infection levels among pregnant women in 2005 in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, could reverse the general, post–2000 decline in HIV prevalence in that country.

West and Central Africa’s smaller epidemics show divergent trends. There are signs of declining HIV prevalence in urban parts of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, but in Mali the HIV epidemic appears to be growing. A recent development in sub-Saharan Africa is the emergence of injecting drug use as a potential factor in the HIV epidemics of several countries, notably those of Kenya and Tanzania (as well as Nigeria and South Africa).” 

Here comes a major point – denial. This disease can no longer be said to belong to another race, gender, religious persuasion or sexual preference, and far too many people are going to get infected because of pure ignorance! 

“A large proportion of South Africans do not believe they are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Some 13% of the persons who took their first HIV test in the 2005 national household survey were found to be HIV-positive. Until then, most of them had declined to take an HIV test because they felt they were at no risk of infection.

Overall, half the respondents who were found to be infected with HIV had reported that they felt they were at no risk of acquiring HIV. Approximately two million South Africans living with HIV do not know that they are infected and believe they face no danger of becoming infected—and therefore are unaware that they can transmit the virus to others.”

UNAIDS AIDS epidemic update – December 2006

Scary stuff.

HIV/Aids, willing to learn more

This afternoon I realized to myself, that no matter how I think I know about HIV/Aids, there is so much more to learn, more to understand, and so much to tell other people. We all think we know about this pandemic, or as Nelson Mandela described it, this Human Rights issue, but when confronted with the disease, how much do you really know?

I was very fortunate to be able to speak to Professors Jan du Toit & Jimmy Earl Perry, from the Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management at Stellenbosch University today, but was horrified by some of the statistics that were thrown onto the table.

There are still so many stigma’s attached to the disease, and I think that many will be surprised about how many people just don’t give a damn about the consequences of their actions – mostly actions at the heat of the moment, when the air is thick and musty with the passion of desire – that’s when everything read or heard is thrown aside with the clothes, and the game of Russian roulette begins.

I have people in my life who have tested HIV positive. Some are acquaintances, others are close, a part of my life. It isn’t a case of this being an unfortunate affliction that you’ll only read about in the papers, or see some poor soul suffering from on television. Look around you. It is everywhere, and if it hasn’t affected you already, be prepared – it will.

The 2006 global UNAIDS report states that: One third (32%) of all people with HIV globally live in southern Africa and 34% of all deaths due to AIDS in 2006 occurred there.

Yet, those that are infected, also need to be sure that they know everything there is to know; whether about nutrition, exercise and a healthy life-style; or what drugs are available on the market and how they affect this disease. We need to hear stories of inspiration, or people that make the most of their condition, and life.

There is so much going on around the world, so many debates, and so much research, I hope to be able to make some sense for all.

HIV/Aids is here to stay – so what can you do about it?