Government baulks over anti-retrovirals

A United Nations initiative to provide anti-retroviral drugs for the prevention of HIV-infection in unborn children in Swaziland may have been scuttled by the government’s reluctance to support it. The country’s official anti-AIDS programme disclosed on Friday that UNICEF had put a US $380,000 grant for the procurement of the anti-retroviral drugs on hold following the government’s failure to back the initiative. The head of the AIDS Crisis Management and Crisis Committee said the government was unwilling to support the initiative because of the logistical implications it posed. “The government believes it can not afford the support system that the initiative entails. It is worried about the cost of the upkeep of children born to mothers that are HIV-positive, and for the counselling that will go with the initiative,” committee chairperson Christabel Motsa told IRIN. “This stance will have severe repercussions for the country. We understand its concerns, but sitting back and doing nothing is not the answer. It should make an effort to raise the resources,” she added. Swaziland has one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS infection in the world, with an estimated 22 percent of its one million people believed to be HIV-positive. According to a government report released this week, that rate of HIV-infection among Swazi women is rising. Four out of 10 pregnant women in the country are HIV-positive. That represents a three percent increase in the rate of infection to 34.2 percent. Meanwhile, an estimated 35,000 children have been orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. The UNICEF office in Mbabane confirmed that the initiative to provide anti-retroviral drugs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission – which had been successfully launched in several other southern African countries – had been put on hold in Swaziland. The initiative is based on successful pilot projects in East Asia, and has the blessing of WHO. “The provision of drugs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS is a UNICEF priority, especially in eastern and southern Africa. However, the government will have to develop an initiative on this before the initiative can be launched here,” UNICEF representative Alan Brody said. “We are and will continue our utmost to help the government develop an initiative in this area and mobilise funds for it,” he added. Swaziland has a well-defined national policy of HIV/AIDS management. However, many aspects of the project have not translated into effective action, partly as a result of financial constraints. “The national economic decline and an often slow-moving bureaucracy have prevented many of the policies being properly implemented,” a UNAIDS report released recently said. Among other things, the report observed that the official policy to make condoms readily available for the sexually active had met little success. “Condom use is increasing, but not enough to stop the epidemic. A recent survey showed that about 60 percent of Swazis had never used a condom,” the report, entitled, ‘Men and HIV in Swaziland,’ said. An estimated 50,000 people in Swaziland have died on HIV/AIDS since the epidemic broke out in the late eighties, and another 115,000 are believed to be HIV-positive.