Miami Herald - June 29, 2008
John Yearwood, jyearwood@MiamiHerald.com

NEW YORK -- Farai Mahaso was studying accounting in London when he received the dreaded call from Harare, Zimbabwe: His mother had died.

At that point, Mahaso's future work became clear.

His mother, Auxillia Chimusoro, was a hero to many in Zimbabwe for becoming the first person to publicly declare her HIV-positive status in 1989. She worked to demystify HIV/AIDS and formed dozens of support groups throughout the southern Africa country.

"More than 1.3 million people are living with HIV, and more than 23,000 people are dying every week," Mahaso said. " thought of that, and I said it was better for me to go to Zimbabwe and do something about HIV."

Mahaso is now an officer with Batanai, one of the groups started by his mother, who died in 1998.

Southern Africa remains the global center of the epidemic, with almost one in three of all people infected with the disease living in this subregion, according to a recent United Nations report.

In the wider sub-Saharan Africa, there have been some victories in the battle against the disease. Many point to Uganda and Senegal among a handful of countries that have made progress.

But activists and international AIDS organizations continue to criticize many governments for failing to devote the needed time and energy to preventing their populations from contracting HIV and treating those infected with the disease.

The U.N. report said that about 25 million people live with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, 64 percent of all people living with the disease in the world.

Some African leaders are beginning to get the message. At the recent UNAIDS High-Level Meeting in New York, several presidents pledged to move more aggressively to fight the disease in their countries.

President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo said he was concerned about the stigma that many with AIDS face in his tiny West African country.

"We should not add moral suffering to the physical suffering that those with the virus are already suffering," Gnassingbe told The Miami Herald, adding that his country needs international help to scale up its anti-AIDS efforts.

"We need access to international funds," said Gnassingbe, who succeeded his father in 2005. "Togo has already missed two rounds of funding. My presence here is to make sure we don't miss any more."

Mahaso said he would welcome more energy from the continent's leaders. In many countries, civil society groups have waged a lonely fight. In Zimbabwe, for example, a long-running political feud between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition has been a barrier to better care for those suffering with HIV and AIDS.

The U.N. report said that Zimbabwe showed a decline in the number of people living with AIDS because many were dying without access to medication.

Also, many doctors and nurses, fearing political violence and intimidation, have fled the country, Mahaso said.

"A lot of good personnel leave to go to rich countries. We train people, then they leave," said Mahaso, 40. " feel the government could do a lot more to help."

But he is not waiting on the government. Batanai has formed international partnerships and is operating centers around the country. The centers provide counseling and medical supplies through funding from the United States and other countries.

It was vital to expand services beyond Harare, the capital, Mahaso said.

"When people get sick here, they go home to the rural areas to die," he said. "We have to be there."

In the future, Mahaso said his organization plans to open even more counseling centers to keep up with the need. He says about 360,000 people need medication but that less than 30,000 get the drugs.

That's why Mahaso said he plans to remain in Zimbabwe, carrying on his mother's legacy.

"I was inspired by my mother and what she was doing," he said. "'ve taken the negative of the situation in Zimbabwe and made it a positive energy. Now, that positive energy is helping people with HIV and AIDS."

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