ETHIOPIA/ISRAEL: Ethiopia which is ranked third in Africa for the number of people living with HIV/AIDS, is trying various methods of dealing with the disease

At the St. Mary's Church in Entoto, on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, some people believe baptism by "holy water" is a cure for AIDS . According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, AIDS is a punishment from God. There is no medical cure for AIDS, but Bahetawy Geberemedihin (pronounce Gebrehmadeheen), an Ethiopian Orthodox monk, claims that holy water can cleanse AIDS victims of the evil spirits he claims cause the disease. "HIV to us is like a flu even though some people take drugs to cure a flu for us, we don't have any drugs; we simply baptize and drink holy water and the disease comes out. In fact people who have been taking ARV's (anti-retrovirals), the drugs come out of their body having not had any effect on the them," says Geberemedihin. Thousands of believers come here from all over Ethiopia every day and stay for days and sometimes months - fasting and praying in the hope that they will be cured. About 1.5 million people in Ethiopia are infected with HIV and AIDS, one of the largest HIV-positive populations in the world. 250,000 people are in dire need life-prolonging ARVs but do not have access to them. Even though the government made the drugs free in 2003, lack of funds, scarcity of trained staff and weak infrastructure, makes them difficult to distribute. Yeshi Tadesse found out she was HIV positive six years ago. At the time, anti- retroviral drugs and treatment were not available and soon her condition advanced to full-blown AIDS. "Before the free medication in the country started, my CD4 (viral count) was extremely low and my body was full of blisters and sores. I was very sick and now have full blown AIDS. Dr. Aster, together with some foreign donors who treat HIV/AIDS, did all they could to help me get started on the free treatment," says Tadesse. Dr. Aster Asefaw, Tadesse's physician, participated in a the training course last year in Israel and admits it has changed the way she deals with her patients. "Yes I should say I have got good experience. Because ART (anti-retroviral treatment) was a very new treatment for us, getting the experience of the world helped us to learn and apply that knowledge and experience here in our country based on the training," says Dr. Asefaw. The Israeli training course, now in its fourth year, is part of a U.S.-sponsored world AIDS relief programme. So far, about 40 doctors from Ethiopia have taken part. During their training, the doctors share experiences with their Israeli counterparts, observe sessions with patients and learn how to administer ARVs. "With the benefits of this ART, or anti-retroviral therapy, it's not only... we are not going to prolong only the life but the quality of the life of the patient," said Tariku Mekonnen, one of the Ethiopian physicians participating in this year's program. Of the 100,000 Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, 2000 are HIV-carriers. Israeli doctors believe they can offer unique insights on the best ways to treat infected members of the country's Ethiopian community. "We decided to focus on Ethiopia because of some cultural similarity and some people from the Ethiopian community in Israel. We know the culture, we have people who speak the language in Israel so we thought it would be worthwhile to start this program in Ethiopia and until now it was a nice success," said Dr. Dan Turner, the director of Ichilov Hospital's AIDS Centre in Tel Aviv. The Ethiopian trainees also acted out scenarios where they learn to handle the psychological and social aspects of their patients' HIV status Ethiopia needs more trained medical personnel like these if the country is to have any chance of containing the disease. Ethiopia ranks third in Africa in terms of the number of people infected with HIV. Although many have found hope in religion, a lot more needs to be done to help people make informed choices about their health and find a balance between science and the church.

ITN Source | December 1, 2006

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