AFRICANEWS
Views and news on peace, justice and reconciliation in Africa
July 2001
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SOUTH AFRICAClinical trials conducted in Johannesburg and Cape Town have shown that despite poverty and scarce clinical resources, antiretrovirals can be used successfully by poor people. These findings come after the government's repeated refusal to offer antiretroviral therapy to all saying the majority of South Africans were poor and would misuse the drugs, the Sunday Independent reported on July 10. Speaking to IRIN on July 11, Dr Ian Sanne of the Clinical HIV Trials Unit of the University of Witwatersrand, said that most of the people involved in the trials were "the poorest of the poor" travelling from squatter camps into urban centres. They were from often unemployed or from a low income backgrounds and represented the majority of the population. The trials were carried out from 1998 to 2001 in "resource-poor settings from three academic trial units" with 763 participants. Strong side effects of the drugs were marginal, of the 14 deaths reported, 3 were drug related. IRIN obtained a report on the trials which stated that, "overall it is possible to successfully treat patients from resource-poor settings with antiretroviral therapy".UGANDAThe Ugandan government is planning to establish an HIV/AIDS centre in each district referral hospital where patients will be able to get access to antiretroviral drugs used to treat the disease, according to the government owned New Vision newspaper. "We are going to establish centres where those whowant access to these drugs can reach them without coming to Kampala," Francis Omaswa, Director-General of Health Services, was quoted as saying at the launch of the Uganda HIV/AIDS Control Project at the International Conference Centre in the Ugandan capital on July 10. The government was also in the process of negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of ARVs to make them affordable to more HIV/AIDS sufferers, Omaswa said. The HIV/AIDS Control Project, jointly funded by the Ugandan government and the World Bank, will cost US $50 million over the next five years. According to the New Vision, project activities will be decentralised to all districts, which will access drugs from the central government. US $20 million has been allocated for the procurement of drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and related diseases.According to a recent study by UNICEF, AIDS is responsible for 12 percent of annual deaths in Uganda, surpassing malaria and other diseases among individuals aged between 15 and 45 years. The agency reported that Uganda had the highest number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS anywhere in the world. An estimated one million under the age of 15 years had lost one or both parents to the disease, it said. In a country of 21 million people, one in every 10 people is a child orphaned by AIDS, it added. Meanwhile, the World Bank has agreed to spend about US $47.5 million to buy medicines, condoms and build clinics over the next five years to boost Uganda's already successful HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes, AP reported on July 11. Closing a two-day workshop in the capital Kampala, Ugandan and World Bank officials said that the programme will be coordinated by the Uganda AIDS Commission and the World Bank would provide financial management. US $20 million would be spent on medicines, condoms, vehicles, and other goods to be distributed at the local level. But the project will not buy expensive ntiretroviral drugs that prolong and improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. ZAMBIAThe high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia combined with the irregular and sometimes limited accessibility of HIV test kits has prompted the Churches Medical Association of Zambia (CMAZ) to recommend to its member institutions an HIV prioritisation scheme. The scheme is meant to offer a framework for deciding when HIV test kits should be used, especially, when test kits may be in short supply. "This framework assumes the highest goal of HIV testing to be the reduction of HIV transmission. All member institutions are therefore encouraged either to adopt these guidelines or to use them as a starting point for drawing up their own prioritisation scheme," an AIDS brief obtained from CMAZ notes. According to the brief, CMAZ also advised member institutions performing HIV testing to utilise a prioritisation scheme on their test kits. The guidelines include the availability of trained pre- and post-test counseling aspects. Due to the nature and characteristics of the natural course of HIV infection, the ability of health institutions and programmes to conduct HIV testing is a major element in Zambia's efforts to control the spread of the disease. However, the supply of HIV test kits has been limited. The brief also indicated that in order to maximise the use of HIV testing, the CMAZ should distribute HIV test kits preferentially to hospitals and not to health centres when test kits are in short supply.NIGERIAThe International Development Association (IDA), an arm of the World Bank, has approved US $90.3 million for the government's three-year HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan, 'This Day' newspaper reported on July 9. The loan, according to a statement by the World Bank at the weekend, is meant to reduce the spread of the disease and mitigate the impact of HIV infection as well as preparing a large-scale response to the pandemic, which has been on the increase in the country.The money would also assist in laying the foundation for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services at the federal, state and local levels. The zero interest specific investment loan will, in addition to the three-year programme, assist in the development and implementation of a long term strategy against AIDS for a further two years. The bank pointed out that Nigeria had the fourth worst HIV/AIDS infection level in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 3 million people infected and 1.7 million people reportedly killed by the disease. Nigeria is one of two countries in sub-Saharan Africa to benefit from the Bank's US $500 million multi-country HIV/AIDS programme for the continent. The other country, Burkina Faso, received US $22 million.
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