Assisting with the HIV/AIDS battle in South Africa
Beaded AIDS Awareness Badges: These beautiful AIDS Awareness badges display the unique art of South African beadwork. Photo: The Ismaili Africa
HIV/AIDS is among the greatest health issues facing the world today. To date, around 65 million people have been infected with HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is a disease in which the body’s immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as “opportunistic infections” and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. Globally, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognised in 1981. The vast majority of the people living with HIV in 2005 were unaware of their status and approximately 59% of all adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women. The efforts of a group of Ismailis working in South Africa in the fight against this disease are profiled below.
Sophia Ladha. Photo: Karim Bhaba
Based in Johannesburg, Sophia Ladha is the country representative for South Africa with Pathfinder International. This organisation has projects in more than 90 countries, with a mission to promote reproductive health as a human right. Ladha is currently working on the expansion of psychosocial support and peer counselling which includes prevention, care and support services to HIV-infected women, their partners, and families. She is passionate about gender and youth issues and has helped to develop and refine the national standards and criteria for adolescent health. She was responsible for developing programme indicators with the National Adolescent-Friendly Clinic Initiative (NAFCI) in South Africa.
Nabila Wissanji. Photo: Courtesy of Nabila Wissanji
For Nabila Wissanji, the work she does as a technical consultant in Southern Africa contributes to effective design and monitoring of HIV programmes. “It’s an epidemic in Southern Africa and every effort helps,” she says. In her previous work with Right to Care, a South African non-governmental organisation, she supported an innovative programme with 35 private sector General Practitioners to provide treatment to indigent patients in Johannesburg. Support was provided through the provision of drugs and covering costs of pathology, as well as paying for consultations.
Dr Saiqa Mullick. Photo: Nabila Wissanji
The efforts of Dr. Saiqa Mullick lie more in the realm of research. She works with the Population Council which seeks to improve policies, programmes, and products worldwide in three areas: HIV and AIDS; poverty, gender and youth; and reproductive health. In her role as Senior Associate in the Reproductive Health Programme for sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Mullick designs and monitors the implementation of rigorous research studies measuring the process, effectiveness and impact of reproductive health interventions in East and Southern Africa from her base in Johannesburg. She participates in disseminating study findings at both the local and international level. Saiqa has presented her research findings to the World Health Organisation in the development of the “Strategy for the Global Elimination of Congenital Syphilis” and the “Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections."
Ambereen Jaffer. Photo: Courtesy of Malik Jaffer
With a background in public health and epidemiology, Ambereen Jaffer works with the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit based at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to monitor and evaluate the current health portfolio. Her focus is in the field of sexual and reproductive health including HIV/AIDS which leads health research and training development in sub-Saharan Africa. Her current research on uptake of anti-retro viral drugs ( ARVs) after an individual knows their status is groundbreaking. "We can make immediate programme changes from what we are learning and this means we can get more people into treatment and save more lives," she notes.
Malik Jaffer. Photo: Courtesy of Malik Jaffer
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Pretoria uses Malik Jaffer’s skills to implement HIV/AIDS related programmes. He provides technical leadership in the Palliative Care portfolio, ensuring provision of clinical, psychological, spiritual and social care as well as integrated prevention services for HIV infected individuals and their families. Malik notes that his work in HIV will reach more than 1.5 million HIV infected and affected individuals in 2008. "It is very difficult to see some people near death because they choose not to seek proper medical care, but at the same time, there is nothing more inspiring than talking with someone who is healthy because they have been taking antiretroviral medication for almost 20 years." Malik helps to set policies and guidelines at the national and international level that help to enable people to live better quality lives.
Each day, 1 800 children worldwide become infected with HIV - the vast majority of them newborns. For individuals who are infected, the effects on their families and their communities are far reaching. For example, an infected individual who is too sick to go to work cannot generate an income and may be subject to discrimination, possibly leading to a reduced labour force that results in an overall loss of productivity. The death of one or both parents leads to an increase in the number of orphans and child-headed households.
These five professionals work with different aspects of a devastating, disease but they share a common view: AIDS affects everyone. While research and training have a role in battling this disease, the awareness of how this disease is contracted is crucial. AIDS is preventable and it is each individual’s responsibility to know and understand the facts and act responsibly.
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