24/07/2005

Successful Results From Anti-Retroviral Therapy

About 95 per cent of the HIV-positive Mozambicans who are taking anti-retroviral therapy, provided under the scheme operated by the Mozambican Health Ministry in partnership with the Italian catholic NGO, the Sant'Egidio Community, have followed the treatment regime, which makes the country an exemplary case in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fears that patients might find the demanding regime too tough to obey have frequently been expressed - yet Mozambique has a better record for following the regime than several western countries, according to one of the Santo'Egidio leaders, Matteo Zuppi, currently visiting Mozambique.

One of the major problems African countries have faced, Zuppi said, is that patients on anti-retrovirals have not been able to follow medical instructions, perhaps because of the radical change in life style demanded, or perhaps because they do not have the money to ensure that they eat a proper diet.

The Sant'Egidio programme, he told a Maputo press conference on Saturday, avoids some of these problems by ensuring that, in addition to free supplies of anti-retroviral drugs, patients also receive food supplements, and water filters. Indeed the acronym for the programme, DREAM, stands for Drug Resource Enhancement Against AIDS and Malnutrition. Currently a total of 9,200 HIV-positive people are receiving assistance of one sort or another through DREAM, and 4,200 of these are at the stage of the disease where they require anti- retroviral treatment.

"Mozambique was, and continues to be, an example in the winning and maintaining of peace", said Zuppi, "Now it is proving to be an important laboratory in the struggle against AIDS".

(Zuppi is qualified to speak of peace in Mozambique, since he was one of the mediators in the negotiations between the government and the Renamo rebels that took place between 1990 and 1992.) The DREAM programme has also been highly successful in preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Under the programme, about 1,100 babies have been born free of HIV to HIV-positive mothers - which is 97 per cent of the total.

DREAM operates out of 12 centres, all part of the Mozambican national health service. The programme spends an average of 700 US dollars per patient per year - this includes the drugs themselves, all laboratory tests, and all other forms of assistance.

Zuppi urged society to take AIDS seriously and to stop discriminating against HIV-positive citizens. He pointed out that there are HIV-positive people who, thanks to the anti-retroviral drugs, are able to lead a normal life - but they lost their jobs when they fell ill, and have not been readmitted to employment.