HIV/AIDS care encompasses a range of different programmes, including voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), health education, nutrition and psycho-social support, treatment of opportunistic infections and staging. Yet, since government’s decision to introduce anti-retroviral therapy in public health facilities, research and debate has focused almost exclusively on the delivery of ARVs. Most of these essential HIV/AIDS services are rendered or supported by nurses at primary care facilities (clinics or community health centres). Yet primary care nursing is in danger of being seriously undermined in South Africa (and elsewhere in Africa) by an accelerating brain drain of nurses, decreasing productivity, lack of skills, and overwhelming anecdotal evidence of burnout and low morale amongst nursing staff.
Equity and HIV/AIDS
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has a dramatic impact on agricultural production, rural livelihoods and food security in many countries. Labour-saving crops and improved agricultural techniques will be a valuable support measure for communities to increase agricultural output and food production.
In the agricultural sector of parts of eastern and southern Africa, HIV/AIDS has contributed to a loss of assets and land, and, in some cases, labour shortages. As a result, crop production has declined for many farm households and rural inequality appears to have increased. Agricultural growth built on policies sensitive to the impacts of HIV/AIDS is essential.
The landscape for antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in resource-poor settings has recently changed considerably with the availability of generic drugs, the drastic price reduction of brand drugs, and the simplification of treatment. However, such cost reductions, while allowing the implementation of large-scale donor programs, have yet to render treatment accessible and possible in the general population. Addressing the problem of HIV treatment in high prevalence/high caseload countries may require redefining the problem as a public health mass therapy program rather than a multiplication of clinical situations. (abstract only)
The report uses pre-existing information and indicators from different stakeholders, analysis of sentinel data from Thyolo district, consultations with key informants, participation in meetings and insights from qualitative studies at the Lighthouse (a high burden ART service provision site in the capital Lilongwe) and in Thyolo district.
Whilst the HIV/AIDS epidemic is affecting people all over the world, it affects young and middle-aged adults most seriously. This is the most economically active age group, meaning the disease has a dramatic impact on agricultural production, rural livelihoods and food security in many countries. Labour-saving crops and improved agricultural techniques will be a valuable support measure for such communities to increase agricultural output and food production.
This paper was prepared for distribution at an interdisciplinary research symposium on HIV/AIDS in the workplace, held from June 29-30 2004 at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. It provides an overview of current union activities focusing on HIV in Mozambique, based on discussion with Mozambican unionists working as HIV activists and on the work of CUSO-Mozambique's Linkage Program with a group of six women's committees from six different trade unions.
It is estimated that only seven percent of those with HIV/AIDS in developing countries receive any anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy. Guaranteed long-term access to affordable medicines, along with investment in public health infrastructure, is essential to tackle the pandemic. How can developing countries overcome the barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS drugs? Developing countries are currently stuck in a ‘price-infrastructure trap’: high prices for HIV/AIDS drugs reduce the possibility of extending treatment programmes and decrease government motivation to invest in much-needed public health infrastructure for HIV/AIDS. The generally limited response of these countries to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is largely due to the problem of stability of access to affordable medications.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund, both financial organizations that aim to reduce poverty, are preventing foreign aid from reaching HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries, claims an article in this week’s issue of The Lancet. Ted Schrecker of the University of Ottawa and Gorik Ooms of Médecins Sans Frontières in Brussels, write expenditure ceilings for public health, created by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stop countries from benefiting from outside investment in their health programmes.
This International HIV/AIDS Alliance fact sheet provides an introduction to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV and AIDS. The fact sheet is meant to be used as a participatory tool to support community engagement in ARV treatment. It aims to provide non-governmental and community-based organisation (NGO/CBO) staff with tools and information to support people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) and their communities. The fact sheet initially describes HIV and AIDS, including how it is transmitted, initial signs and symptoms and the potential health risks. It then outlines what a person living with HIV needs and details what treatment options are available.