Day 3: HIV and a balanced diet
In the UK, food, weight and obesity are constantly in the press. We all know what we should eat but temptation often gets the better of us. Eating our 'five a day' seems to be a chore that few of us can be bothered to do.
We take food for granted without really thinking of what each component does for us. But if you are a person living with HIV you have to learn how to give your body what it needs.
This evening, I listened to a man living with HIV explaining the importance of nutrition for those who have the virus. Soon after he was diagnosed with HIV he was told by his doctor that he had 18 months to live. However, it was five years later that he finally had to start taking anti-retroviral medication. His good health was partly due to the balanced diet he had been able to sustain.
He explained that if you are living with HIV your body uses a lot of energy fighting the virus. This is why the predominant image of those affected by HIV is often of people who are emaciated and malnourished. And if you are on anti-retroviral medication it is even more important that you have a decent diet to ensure that they are effective.
I am on a continent where around 24.5 million people are living with HIV. Unfortunately, a great many of those will not have access to the balanced diet promoted by the man I spoke to. In fact, for many, getting any food will be a daily struggle.
Food, clean water and medication
Despite being in the comfortable surroundings of a hotel, I am also aware that South Africa is a country where there are high levels of poverty. I wonder how many people living with HIV in this country, and even in this city, are struggling to find adequate food and clean water. For these people access to medication is a secondary concern if they face the possibility of dying from malnutrition.
If I was a young woman caring for my children on my own with no support and no job I am sure that I would not have the
'luxury' of being able to even consider eating well. My daily concerns would be for basic food, water and housing. Poverty would not only make me vulnerable to HIV but also leave me powerless to fight the virus.
Although it is true that HIV does not discriminate against those it affects, it is also true that some are more able to cope with the challenges it throws at them than others.
Tomorrow I will be visiting some projects that aim to assist those who are most vulnerable to the affects of HIV. It is their stories that must be heard if change is to be made.