The SADC region has stepped up its efforts to promote healthy lifestyles among people living with HIV and AIDS.

Focus has been directed towards de-stigmatising HIV and AIDS, and improving the care and support systems in SADC countries.

Emphasis is also being put on the fact that although the virus can weaken the immune system it is possible to strengthen it by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Coordination of regional and national initiatives provides the muscle behind SADC's efforts.

In his message during World AIDS Day commemorations in early December, the Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr Prega Ramsamy said, "as the war against HIV and AIDS is scaled up, we cannot fold our arms and leave the infected and affected alone."

Governments in the SADC region with the support of civil society and international donors have launched massive HIV and AIDS programmes to counter the stigmatization, improve care, treatment and support. These initiatives support the Declaration made by SADC Heads of State on HIV and AIDS in July 2003 in Maseru, Lesotho.

The Maseru Declaration stresses the importance of a multisectoral approach in "preventing and removing stigma, silence, discrimination and denial which continue to hamper and undermine HIV control efforts, particularly towards the people living with HIV and AIDS."

The declaration also stresses the need for governments to invest in programmes that promote the use of nutritional supplements as well as the production and consumption of locally produced foods. It proposes the strengthening of health care systems and increasing access to affordable essential medicines such as anti-retroviral drugs through sustainable mechanisms.

The SADC region is trying to strengthen initiatives that promote the use of nutritious foods as well as increasing access to antiretroviral drugs, which are now available in several countries.

A recent pledge by Brazil to build a factory to manufacture AIDS drugs in Mozambique could boost the availability of drugs. The Mozambican President, Joaquim Chissano who is also chairperson of the African Union welcomed the pledge as a valuable contribution to tackling the pandemic in the region.

The South African cabinet has recently presented an operation plan for comprehensive treatment and care for HIV and AIDS, the plan also provides antiretroviral treatment in the public sector.

SADC countries have been trying to make funds available in their national budgets for HIV and AIDS programmes that provide anti-retroviral drugs, however the support of the international community remains vital.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) launched an initiative recently to provide anti-retroviral drugs to three million people in developing countries by the year 2005. US$5.5 billion funding is required to run the programme over the next two years, says a WHO press release.

Preparatory work to adopt the WHO initiative has begun already with governments in countries such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe so that anti-retroviral medicines can be provided quickly to the people who need them most.

According to the WHO press release, evidence and experience shows that rapidly increasing the availability of anti-retroviral treatment in line with the 2005 target can lead to more openness about HIV and AIDS.

"Access to treatment will reduce fear, stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS resulting in people discussing issues pertaining to the pandemic more openly," says the WHO country representative for Zimbabwe.

It is hoped that the distribution of these drugs as well as nutritious foods and herbs such as the African potato, garlic, aloe vera, grapefruit, oats, will be effective treatments even in societies where HIV and AIDS have been associated with stigma and discrimination.

The access to traditional nutritious foods and herbs is being strengthened and promoted. In South Africa, a natural treatment clinic has been established where more than 400 patients have had treatment with natural remedies for HIV and AIDS. The alternative natural therapies can cost as little as US$7 per month, compared with close to US$40 a month for anti-retrovirals.

The use of herbal remedies and the consumption of foods that have high nutritional value are being promoted as an alternative therapy in addressing the increasingly high cost of treatment and opportunistic infections common in people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa.

For the past two years, SADC together with the rest of the world has taken up the challenge of breaking through social attitudes that undermine the effectiveness of campaigns against HIV and AIDS. Such attitudes towards disease or illness associated with sexual behaviour have tended to stigmatise those infected.

The selection of the theme, "Stigma and Discrimination: Live and Let Live" for the 2002 and 2003 World AIDS Day campaign is one way in which the United Nations sought to encourage societies to let go of attitudes that restrict openness regarding HIV infection.

Faced with prejudice, people avoid HIV testing and so may avoid life-saving treatment. Yet the knowledge of HIV status is helpful, in view of recent efforts at both the global and regional level to provide anti-retroviral drugs.

HIV and AIDS remain a major challenge to development in the SADC region where the pandemic is undermining development gains of the past few decades, leading to higher rates of poverty, losses of human capital and a decline in life expectancy due to lack of access to treatment.

Access to reliable information is essential in confronting the HIV virus and medicines can be helpful in preventing and treating opportunistic diseases, but a healthy lifestyle remains the most basic way to boost the immune system and build strong bodies capable of resisting infection. (SARDC)

Southern African News Features can be reproduced in print or broadcast with credit to SARDC and the author. SARDC has been reporting on SADC from a regional perspective since 1990.