Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2006
Sarah McGregor

Her six small children have bathed in a plastic washbasin, the dirt yard is swept, the bed is made and Mofokeng is dishing out a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs and cheese slices before she prepares for work.

"It's busy," she laughs. "It is true you can live with AIDS. Better than only telling people, I show through example."

Her husband, Amos, chimes in: "This is not her last day. People have to stop people seeing those with AIDS that way."

Mofokeng is clearly not the haunting image of human suffering that has long characterized the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, where one in nine people is HIV-infected and activists warn the situation will worsen before it improves.

The government will today, on World AIDS Day, reveal some details of a five-year plan to tackle the disease -- release of the full-blown strategy has been delayed until March -- after years of criticism from civil society for doing little.

But behind the grim statistics in one of the world's worst-hit countries are people who are doing their best to cope.

Mofokeng shows that in South Africa, as in many Western countries, HIV infection is not a death sentence but a chronic condition patients can control through a positive outlook, nutritious diet, physical exercise and treatment.

If her body's defenses are weakened she will resort to a lifetime program of anti-retroviral drugs, much like diabetics who inject insulin to control blood sugar, she said. Both diseases persist worldwide in the absence of a vaccine or cure.

"Only when ... we begin to relate to AIDS as a chronic illness will people freely say, 'Honey, we need to use a condom.' And it will be no big deal," said Betsi Pendry, who led a project chronicling AIDS-affected South African families.

"But the first question people ask is how you got it. There is this idea that you brought it on yourself."

STIGMA OF AIDS

Social stigma dogs AIDS patients and the prevention message is cluttered by an information overload, said Pendry. Poverty also plays a crucial role in the spread of AIDS, which kills nearly 1,000 patients in South Africa every day.

More often than not, negative news outweighs the positive.

South Africa's HIV infection rate is expected to rise higher than its current level of more than 5 million in a population of 45 million -- one of the highest caseloads in the world -- and claim ever more lives, according to UNAIDS.

In South Africa, more than 200,000 are receiving life-prolonging ARV treatment, offering only a kernel of hope because many times more people are sick enough to need them.

"The mundane truth is that AIDS is now more readily manageable medically than many other chronic conditions. I take two tablets twice a day," said Judge Edwin Cameron, an openly HIV-positive member of South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal.

"That is the tragedy -- the gap between the medicine available and what is accessible to people," he said.

061201
RE061207

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. 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, 2006. 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. .