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HIV/Aids: Multivitamins, nutrition help vital too
2005-05-16 07:13:06
By Editor
Reports that the government is studying the possibility of providing people living with HIV/Aids with free nutritious foods and food supplements are very welcome.
The Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, told a one-day seminar in Dar es Salaam last week that the government was aware that most of the people living with HIV/Aids were poverty-stricken and to whom life support drugs alone were of little help.
While the government is making note of the need to support people living with HIV/Aids sufferers at the nutritional level, a wider debate is raging in the world’s media, which may help tune the local discussion.
Experts are beginning to wonder what method is more effective in combating the spread of HIV in the body.
Is it the systematic application/use of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) or the use of multivitamins and other nutritional supplements?
But many Aids-activists are worried that the shift to provision of multivitamins as the first order of treatment or fighting the disease is commercial in character and not medically sound.
They say this outlook might roll back years of advocacy that had yielded considerable results, including reaching agreements on the provision of cheaper ARVs for poor patients in Africa and Asia. They worry that all this may be lost.
Proponents of the multivitamins option point out that all Aids drugs, whether of the European and US strains of Aids or the African (type three) variety, have a drawback.
Since the virus that causes Aids has an adaptive mechanism that continues to unravel new resources to adapt to any medication applied on it, at some point the body gets tired of the medication while the virus is still strong. That is when it becomes toxic.
Locally, there are cases where patients who have at times been treated with ARVs have found their situation deteriorating fast and, at the limit, their guardians or family members stopped medication.
A few then opted for products linked with multivitamins and high protein and energy foods through ordinary feeding or eating.
Quite a few have since been able to return to health.
It is evident, therefore, that the merits of ARVs should not be over-trumpeted, and indeed there is need for medical advice to be sought as to whether the treatment is effective enough for a patient.
Merely insisting on gulping down ARVs without checking its effectiveness can be deceptive, and if a patient starts losing hope when noticing poor effectiveness, it is bad for their immunity. Another option is needed quite early.
For patients or families who can afford both, a balanced concern for ARVs and multivitamins might be the best option while for those to whom ARVs are out of reach for whatever reason, a focus on a nutritious diet and food supplements is desirable.
At any rate, patients must be reminded of the primacy of having good diets and food supplements as these reinforce the body’s immunity system.
That is why it would be helpful if the government also looks into administering multivitamins along with ARVs or, if they are cheaper, making these more available to patients.
If we extend nutritious foods along with multivitamins, the results will definitely be encouraging.
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