Influence of Nutrition, Treatment and Beliefs on the Spread of HIV/AIDS
(Edward Lungu, University of Botswana)

Developing countries are characterized by populations that are economically divided into two classes namely those who are affluent and those who are poor. The affluent class has access to first world health care and can afford the cost of health care, not so for the poor class. Consequently, the ARV landscape in developing countries is evolving quickly and with serious implications. Because of the high cost of drugs and the fact that ARV therapy is life-long and can mean taking many pills and drug combinations are necessary, HIV sufferers are faced with a very difficult choice either to go on ARV treatment (if they can afford it), or to resort to other means such as traditional remedies or religious practices. In the resource-poor setting of the developing world (generally, rural areas), where there is a dearth of effective health infrastructures and a serious shortage or lack of drugs, the inability by most individuals to fulfil their right to health care has left them with no choice but to resort to traditional remedies. In the presence of HIV, adequate food supplies are both preventive in supporting health immune systems and curative in that they are essential for drug treatment to be effective and to prevent re-infection. Treatment of HIV must also be supported by other elements such as care, education on prevention, and post-diagnosis counselling. We model the development of HIV/AIDS in a population consisting of two classes of individuals namely, those who are affluent and those who are poor. We consider a situation in which the individual's nutritional status is compounded by the fact that (i) ARV is not a cure for HIV and the costly drugs must be taken for life, and (ii) individuals must make a choice between the type of treatment, that is, either ARV therapy or traditional remedies. We ask the question" how far can nutrition, type of treatment, education on prevention and post-diagnosis counselling influence the spread of HIV/AIDS in a population subjected to inequity access?