Learning lessons about HIV and health

Paul Kwaluma is back on ARVs after going off them because he was too hungry [CAFOD]

The Mutomo clinic tackles HIV in Kenya, but the struggle for food and basic healthcare affects patients' ability to take life-saving drugs, as Paul Kwaluma discovered

Food has been scarce in the Kitui district in rural Kenya after a cycle of poor rains left the earth parched and devastated agriculture.

The drought hit hardest the poor and most vulnerable, especially those already weakened by HIV and too sick to work for food.

Dramatic weight loss

Paul Kwaluma, who is HIV positive, was taking his life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) that stops the HIV virus attacking the immune system but, for the drugs to be effective, patients need to be on an adequate diet.

Paul was too ill to work in his job as a driver, and the drought meant his family’s small plot of land did not produce enough food.

He admits: "I stopped taking the HIV medicine because when you have nothing in your stomach it makes you feel very ill."

"When I stopped taking the drugs, I weighed about 62kg, and I was healthy. But quickly I became very sick. I thought I was going to die.

"I could not get out of bed. I lost weight dramatically. The nurses from the Mutomo Hospital came and took me straight into hospital. I weighed just 34kg at the time."

Mutomo Hospital is part of the Catholic Diocese of Kitui HIV and AIDS programme, which works out of four hospitals in Kitui, and is supported by CAFOD.

The programme helps thousands of people with home-based care, testing, counselling, education, and income generating projects, as well as supporting orphans and vulnerable children.

Paul received counselling on the importance of not missing any of his drug treatment.

"I have learned an important lesson. I must ensure I have enough food so I can get back to work and provide for me and my family."

Kenya has doubled the number on ARVs since 2003 as the drugs have become cheaper and more widely available. But, of the many hundreds of thousands of people with HIV, only one in three actually receives ARVs.

Dr John Mundi Amolo of Mutomo Hospital says: "People know that you have to eat to be able to take the drugs. But if they don’t have the food, they have no choice. They have to pay to come to the hospital and for the testing.

"If somebody has only 50 shillings (a few pence), they might prefer to buy food because although HIV will kill you in a couple of months, famine might kill you in a week.

"Some cannot afford the addition costs such as the regular blood tests that are required. Even the price of transportation to the nearest clinic can be too much for many people living below the poverty line.

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