Casestudy: Eric A Mubita

...behavioural change is the only thing which can make this country a better country

He is forty eight, is married and has three children, two boys and one girl. He lives by cultivating the land, growing maize and rice. For the past two years he has worked with TALC doing outreach and advocacy work and he has been involved with the AIDS Alliance. Before accurate information was provided, people believed that HIV and AIDS just involved someone who was having sex with a woman during her period - Malili. But this has all changed now.

While Eric was married, he travelled up and down the country for his father collecting orders for his shop. This is when he contracted the virus. He used to travel to Livingstone and the Copperbelt where they were ordering clothes and groceries. On these trips, he would meet lots of different sexual partners but in 2007 he began to feel sick. His dad encouraged him to go for medication and accept his status. Eric felt very ashamed when he found out he was HIV positive, but his wife agreed not to leave him. Initially his wife thought it would be better not to take the drugs and to die, but she slowly changed her mind. They went together when he went for VCT, she did not blame him.

His first son is positive, but his other children are negative. The people in the community knew Eric was positive because he was sick. Eric's family would be considered high class in the community. People did not believe that he was positive because he was so fit, due to the drugs. They would ask Eric to assist their relatives who were sick, and give them counselling so they could get better. His father, who is ninety one years old, did not react. His children were worried, but he educated them that would be ok, and now they support him. His youngest tells him when to take his medication, his wife is also on ARVs. They began ARVs straight after VCT. Eric got pneumonia and his wife got a rash, but they overcame these problems.

Their main challenges for them are that clinics and hospitals can run out of medication sometimes with such a large area to deal with. The CD4 count machine is a significant challenge as it frequently breaks down. More sensitisation is needed if the prevalence rate is to decrease. There is a need for a lot more sensitisation work in the area.

Cultural practices contribute greatly according to Eric. There is a practice where if someone is suspected of being poisoned by witchcraft, they cut the person with a razor blade and syphon out the blood with a horn (mulumeho), to get rid of the poison. Circumcision is also an issue. One knife is used for fifteen to twenty children, so the virus can be transmitted this way also.

Eric argues 'it is better for us to fight this pandemic, especially with initiation ceremonies - behavioural change is the only thing which can make this country a better country. Information dissemination is key. There is too much sexual activity'.