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HIV/AIDS: CARING AS AN OBLIGATION

Author: Dr. Uzodinma A. Adirieje 
InfoShare Partner: Afrihealth Information Projects/Afrihealth Optonet Association
Publication Date: September 2004
Update Date: November 2004
Type of Document: Article/Report/Paper
Topics: HIV/AIDS care/treatment
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Language: English
Number of Pages: 4
File Size: 34 KB
File Format: MS Word

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The twin issues of access to care and what manner of care for HIV/AIDS, deserve serious attention even as the world battles to provide antiretroviral therapies/drugs (ARVs) for its treatment. Holistic approaches to caring for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) should be embedded in a typical ‘code of conduct for HIV/AIDS care’, which must be humane in its approach, universal in its application, adaptable in every circumstance and affordable to the patient community. Whether collectively and/or individually, it is imperative that the society should provide care for those living with HIV/AIDS and those directly affected by the disease, including orphans and caregivers, in the context of the UNGASS undertakings mentioned above. The unfortunate relationship between HIV/AIDS and malnutrition is already known and acknowledged. To fully utilize and benefits from the nutritional management angle to HIV/AIDS care, we must improve our understanding and knowledge of the interrelationship between nutrition and the disease. The most important message should be caring for or controlling HIV/AIDS goes far beyond just access to ARVs. In recognizing that medications for treatment of HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections are increasingly being provided, the dearth of infrastructure for implementing such strategies is another problem. School environment for HIV positive children and the role of teachers and education/teaching authorities are particularly important. Efforts at recruiting and training volunteers and family members to provide home and community based care (HCBC), must be enumerated/programmed in the proposed ‘code of conduct for HIV/AIDS care’. Caregiving as an obligation must not necessarily imply the provision of new buildings and other large equipments and infrastructure. T