Columbian Profiles Community Program Offering Home-Based Care to Zambian AIDS Patients, Orphans
The Columbian on Saturday profiled Mpatamatu Home Based Care, a community-based program in Zambia that provides care to people living with HIV/AIDS and children who have lost one or both parents to the disease, the Columbian/Red Nova reports. MHBC sends 240 community volunteers and nurses to visit 1,047 HIV/AIDS patients twice weekly to provide physical and spiritual care for them and their families. The faith-based program also provides clinical services, peer education, counseling, and skills training for orphans, widows and HIV-positive people. Volunteers and clients receive a monthly food supply through a grant from the European Union. However, the EU grant does not provide antiretroviral drugs because of the high cost of the medicines, according to Pastor Andrew Kayekesi, who founded the program in 1997 with his wife, Patricia. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline also provides medication, weekly clinic visits, management services and lab equipment with training. The program currently has seven centers and has trained 305 volunteers, 36 psychosocial counselors, 40 youth initiative workers and 80 peer educators. Kayekesi and his wife aim to start similar programs throughout Zambia (Sisson, Columbian/RedNova, 8/6).
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