Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 12/19/2006

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - ZAMBIA: Poor nutrition nullifies benefit of ARV treatment

1 - ZAMBIA: Poor nutrition nullifies benefit of ARV treatment

LUSAKA, 18 December (PLUSNEWS) - The poor nutrition often experienced by

HIV-positive Zambians on antiretroviral [ARV] drug treatment is nullifying the

benefits of the medicine, health experts are warning.

" Whenever I take my ARVs without eating anything, I begin to feel dizzy and

sometimes I even vomit - I generally feel very weak in my body; I have to be in

bed for some time unless I took the drugs after eating, " Mukwendi, a

resident in the capital, Lusaka, one of thousands on ARVs, told IRIN/PlusNews.

" We sold all our assets, including the only car we had while my late husband was

sick, to pay for his medication, and this is why I am unable to buy food at the

moment. Doctors have often advised me not to be taking ARVs without food but

then, there is also the problem of drugs becoming resistant if I keep skipping

because of not having food, " Mukwendi said.

ARVs slow down the reproduction rate of the HI virus and delays progression to

AIDS, but in the absence of good nutrition, experts warn that taking the drugs

becomes just as bad as not taking them.

According to Nkandu Luo, Zambia's first woman professor and a former health

minister, " It is like having two evils acting together in your body. Taking ARVs

where there is no food only compounds the problem, because some of these drugs

are toxic and, hence, they affect the body unless they are taken with the

recommended food values. "

President Levy Mwanawasa's administration is rolling out ARVs as part of its

commitment to the global target of promoting universal access to treatment by

2010. Of the estimated 1.6 million Zambians living with HIV/AIDS - 17 percent of

the sexually active adult population - only about 75,000 have access to ARV

medication.

e Mwinga, spokesperson for the government National AIDS Council, said the

treatment programme faced an uphill battle, in that " we have continued losing a

lot of skilled medical staff to other countries, and we are seriously lacking

the required equipment, such as the CD4 count machines, in most government

institutions. " The number of CD4 cells present in an individual's blood

indicates the strength of their immune system.

Government scrapped the US$10 monthly user fee for HIV/AIDS treatment in 2005,

and in April 2006 lifted all medical fees at government-run hospitals and

clinics in rural areas, where food insecurity and poverty go hand in hand.

Medical facilities in urban areas still charge individuals in monthly medical

schemes up to $2.

Luo, now an HIV/AIDS consultant, said " Lack of food has become more critical and

prevalent in Zambia than it was in the past. Some families are alternating when

eating, especially in rural areas. In certain homes, each family member has to

skip a day before taking the next meal, regardless of whether or not they are

HIV positive and on medication. "

In the past few years Zambia has managed to harvest a surplus of maize, the

staple food, but the World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing food aid to

about 555,000 people since July 2006.

Government departments and UN agencies have yet to establish the number of

people living with HIV/AIDS and going hungry, but according to the Central

Statistical Office, 68 percent of the 11.7 million population live $1 or less

day.

Jo Woods, public information officer at the UN's WFP in Zambia, said food

shortages among households with HIV-positive people was a complex issue.

" Certainly, [food] production levels do vary from region to region, but we are

now also approaching the lean season in Zambia, where people are running out of

food that they have stored from the last harvest. For people living in the

cities, they may not have access to land for growing food and may not have ...

[jobs], so poverty is the issue - they cannot afford to buy sufficient food, "

Woods said.

Humanitarian agencies, including the WFP and the International Federation of Red

Cross and Red Crescent Societies [iFRC], are collaborating with the health

ministry to set up an intervention programme for people who are on ARV treatment

but have no access to food.

The WFP is providing food packs of high-energy proteins as well as farming

inputs to some 9,610 people on ARV treatment in certain parts of the country,

while the Zambia Red Cross Society is supporting about 1,000 HIV/AIDS patients

on treatment with a monthly food supplement and a number of income-generating

ventures, like livestock rearing and fish farming.

Mukesh Kapila, a Geneva-based IFRC director of policy and planning, said during

a recent two-day visit to Zambia, " What we are doing, as humanitarian agencies,

is not enough in itself, because the HIV epidemic in Zambia, and Southern Africa

as a whole, is a matter of life and death. We need to do much more, but we are

constrained by limited funding. The best way to deal with HIV is not just

treatment; treatment brings hope, but it is not the solution. People should have

ready access to food and basic information on health if treatment is to be

effective. "

The WFP's Woods said the agency faced a serious pipeline break in the food-pack

support project and needed up to $7.8 million to provide food for the programme

in 2007.

[Produced in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies: <a href= " http://www.ifrc.org "

target= " _blank " >www.ifrc.org</a>][ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - ZAMBIA: Poor nutrition nullifies benefit of ARV treatment

1 - ZAMBIA: Poor nutrition nullifies benefit of ARV treatment

LUSAKA, 18 December (PLUSNEWS) - The poor nutrition often experienced by

HIV-positive Zambians on antiretroviral [ARV] drug treatment is nullifying the

benefits of the medicine, health experts are warning.

" Whenever I take my ARVs without eating anything, I begin to feel dizzy and

sometimes I even vomit - I generally feel very weak in my body; I have to be in

bed for some time unless I took the drugs after eating, " Mukwendi, a

resident in the capital, Lusaka, one of thousands on ARVs, told IRIN/PlusNews.

" We sold all our assets, including the only car we had while my late husband was

sick, to pay for his medication, and this is why I am unable to buy food at the

moment. Doctors have often advised me not to be taking ARVs without food but

then, there is also the problem of drugs becoming resistant if I keep skipping

because of not having food, " Mukwendi said.

ARVs slow down the reproduction rate of the HI virus and delays progression to

AIDS, but in the absence of good nutrition, experts warn that taking the drugs

becomes just as bad as not taking them.

According to Nkandu Luo, Zambia's first woman professor and a former health

minister, " It is like having two evils acting together in your body. Taking ARVs

where there is no food only compounds the problem, because some of these drugs

are toxic and, hence, they affect the body unless they are taken with the

recommended food values. "

President Levy Mwanawasa's administration is rolling out ARVs as part of its

commitment to the global target of promoting universal access to treatment by

2010. Of the estimated 1.6 million Zambians living with HIV/AIDS - 17 percent of

the sexually active adult population - only about 75,000 have access to ARV

medication.

e Mwinga, spokesperson for the government National AIDS Council, said the

treatment programme faced an uphill battle, in that " we have continued losing a

lot of skilled medical staff to other countries, and we are seriously lacking

the required equipment, such as the CD4 count machines, in most government

institutions. " The number of CD4 cells present in an individual's blood

indicates the strength of their immune system.

Government scrapped the US$10 monthly user fee for HIV/AIDS treatment in 2005,

and in April 2006 lifted all medical fees at government-run hospitals and

clinics in rural areas, where food insecurity and poverty go hand in hand.

Medical facilities in urban areas still charge individuals in monthly medical

schemes up to $2.

Luo, now an HIV/AIDS consultant, said " Lack of food has become more critical and

prevalent in Zambia than it was in the past. Some families are alternating when

eating, especially in rural areas. In certain homes, each family member has to

skip a day before taking the next meal, regardless of whether or not they are

HIV positive and on medication. "

In the past few years Zambia has managed to harvest a surplus of maize, the

staple food, but the World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing food aid to

about 555,000 people since July 2006.

Government departments and UN agencies have yet to establish the number of

people living with HIV/AIDS and going hungry, but according to the Central

Statistical Office, 68 percent of the 11.7 million population live $1 or less

day.

Jo Woods, public information officer at the UN's WFP in Zambia, said food

shortages among households with HIV-positive people was a complex issue.

" Certainly, [food] production levels do vary from region to region, but we are

now also approaching the lean season in Zambia, where people are running out of

food that they have stored from the last harvest. For people living in the

cities, they may not have access to land for growing food and may not have ...

[jobs], so poverty is the issue - they cannot afford to buy sufficient food, "

Woods said.

Humanitarian agencies, including the WFP and the International Federation of Red

Cross and Red Crescent Societies [iFRC], are collaborating with the health

ministry to set up an intervention programme for people who are on ARV treatment

but have no access to food.

The WFP is providing food packs of high-energy proteins as well as farming

inputs to some 9,610 people on ARV treatment in certain parts of the country,

while the Zambia Red Cross Society is supporting about 1,000 HIV/AIDS patients

on treatment with a monthly food supplement and a number of income-generating

ventures, like livestock rearing and fish farming.

Mukesh Kapila, a Geneva-based IFRC director of policy and planning, said during

a recent two-day visit to Zambia, " What we are doing, as humanitarian agencies,

is not enough in itself, because the HIV epidemic in Zambia, and Southern Africa

as a whole, is a matter of life and death. We need to do much more, but we are

constrained by limited funding. The best way to deal with HIV is not just

treatment; treatment brings hope, but it is not the solution. People should have

ready access to food and basic information on health if treatment is to be

effective. "

The WFP's Woods said the agency faced a serious pipeline break in the food-pack

support project and needed up to $7.8 million to provide food for the programme

in 2007.

[Produced in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies: <a href= " http://www.ifrc.org "

target= " _blank " >www.ifrc.org</a>][ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments