An Advocacy Resource Book for HIV and AIDS in Zambia

This 51 page Zambian advocacy resource book is aimed at individuals, community groups, People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), youth and school pupils, district level organisations, teachers associations, church groups, (local) government leaders and others concerned and wanting to make a positive contribution to the response to HIV and AIDS in Zambia.

The book covers what influences the national response to HIV and AIDS and how advocacy can bring about an improved response by:

• reducing infection,
• providing the best possible access to treatment, care and support,
• reducing stigma and discrimination that surrounds HIV and AIDS,
• and helping people whose lives and families are threatened by the impact of the epidemic.

It highlights research on which institutions had a significant influence on the national response to HIV and AIDS, what aspects of this impact were either positive or negative, and how the policies of influential institutions could be constructively changed to improve the national response to HIV and AIDS.

The publication discusses the major institutional influences on Zambia’s national response to HIV and AIDS: families, communities, culture, the education and health systems, local administration, churches, the media, and politics. It looks at what the current policies and responses are in these institutions, their strengths and weaknesses and what changes could improve the national response. The discussions are based on interviews and focus group discussions held in early 2005 with around 250 people in urban and rural areas.