David Patient has lived almost half of his 43 years as an HIV-positive South African, defying all medical odds. What's even more unusual: This healthy man takes no anti-retroviral drugs for his condition. Instead, his only weapons have been a hardy dietary plan and an unbending will to live. Defying the experts, his regimen has been more than enough.

Currently, Patient is touring Africa to share his ideas with other HIV-positive people. His ideas and passion for sharing them is sorely needed. Some 26 million people with HIV live in the region of Africa south of the Sahara Desert alone, or more than half of the people with HIV in the world.

Rather than encourage fellow individuals with HIV to follow the typical plan, which includes condom use, Patient emphasizes nutrition that improves their immune systems, extends their lives and lowers their chances of infecting loved ones.

Instead of advocating medications or supplements, Patient's courses show people how to boost their immune systems by eating local produce containing high levels of zinc, beta carotene and selenium. According to many experts, HIV-positive sufferers can expect to live about eight years before developing AIDS.

With the right nutritional plan, Patient believes HIV patients can extend their lives by four years.

The advocate has also blasted African leaders for failing to taking stronger steps, including moving far too slowly to provide anti-retroviral medications to their people.

Although he doesn't need them, Patient also believes anti-retroviral drugs should be made more available on one condition: People must have better access to the right foods so these medicines can work the right way, or the situation merely worsens.

Because researchers have been fascinated with Patient's longevity, he has been asked to provide samples for studies whose goals include finding the common traits of HIV survivors.

Although Patient has conquered many obstacles, the internal struggles still hurt. More than a thousand friends died during the first decade Patient was infected. That triggered a "survivor's guilt" because he was alive.

Nevertheless, Patient isn't surprised he's lived so long because, in his words, except for smoking, he'd done everything possible to bolster his health.

Yahoo News June 29, 2004