Listen to Eric

My week is split into two. I spend Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the clinic in University Teaching hospital in Lusaka, the rest of the time I can be found at the Ngombe Urban health clinic. This approach is used so that as many people in the urban and the rural locations can easily gain access to the treatment that is available.

I usually have two or three counselling sessions in the mornings. The questions can be wide ranging from "Can I still have sex with my partner?" to "Do I have to take drugs straight away?". In Zambia there is a lot of confusion about drug treatment. People don't realise that if they have a good diet and look after themselves they will not need the ARV treatment straight away.

In the afternoons we focus on our outreach work with local faith and community leaders. We try too dispel some of the very dangerous myths that surround HIV and Aids. We recently had to work on dispeling the myth that you are able to cleanse yourself of the virus by sleeping with a virgin. With our work with the community leaders we hope to help people to come forward for testing and treatment without worrying about the alienation that they fear.