Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - October 11, 2002
Hobbs Gama in Blantyre

The project, which is run from the local hospital in the rural Thyolo district and provides nevirapine free of charge to HIV-positive pregnant women, is the first of its kind in Malawi. Local women -- once convinced that life after an HIV-positive diagnosis is still possible and that early testing could save an unborn child -- have made the transition from sceptics to believers wholeheartedly.

Veronica Chikafa, the local M d cins spokeswoman, says by July this year 1505 people had been counselled through the voluntary counselling and testing programme introduced in March.

She said the response to the programme was overwhelming, with 97% of patients following through with an HIV test after counselling.

"Almost all the [pregnant] women who tested positive accepted nevirapine after they understood the need [to prevent transmission to their unborn children]. More and more women are coming [forward] for the programme."

Chikafa said men, however, had not embraced the project with the same enthusiasm. But she said the organisation was hopeful that their partners who had been counselled and tested would change their minds.

According to figures from the National Aids Commission (NAC), Malawi has more than one million people living with HIV/Aids. Thyolo is one of the four hardest-hit regions in the country.

A two-year-old government plan to make anti-retrovirals available to people living with Aids was scuppered by a lack of funding. But the country has since qualified for a $196-million five-year grant from the Geneva-based Global Fund to fight HIV/Aids and tuberculosis. The grant will be administered by the NAC.

At the top of the NAC's list of priorities is changing mindsets. Statistics have shown that only 8% of the population are aware of their HIV status.

Some people choose not to know because of the stigma attached to being HIV-positive.

"Ignorance to me is power," said Tomaso Mikambi (24), a vendor at a Thyolo market. "If I knew I was positive my life would be shattered. I hear that some people died only months after they were told they had the virus."

Dr Bizwick Mwale, national coordinator of the NAC, said the commission is worried by this type of attitude. "The stigma associated with the disease is really a problem."

He said the NAC believes more public dialogue will address the situation and dismissed the notion that people who knew they were HIV-positive died faster. If anything, he said, they take measures to prolong and improve their lives.

So, as the government and donor agencies collaborate to establish more testing centres and make anti-retrovirals freely available, the women of Thyolo remain a shining example of the attitude needed to confront the killer disease head-on.
021011
MG021008

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2002. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .