Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Eswatini

Order needed in chaotic ARV Programme

    JOHANNESBURG

    AIDS activists in Swaziland are calling for an urgent public AIDS education campaign and more testing facilities.

    Claiming incidents of liver failure and even death due to Nevirapine, president of the Swaziland AIDS Support Organisation, Hannie Dlamini, told the UN information service, Plusnews, that the public needed to be informed about the dangers of some drugs and what happens when they are not properly taken.

    She quoted World Health Organisation guidelines, which specify that people taking antiretrovirals must be tested 14 days after they start using them. "This is important for Nevirapine, which can be toxic in some people." In Swaziland it took a month before testing could be done.

    In Swaziland there is only one machine available in the whole country to test the toxicity levels of blood from patients taking ARVs, making it difficult for the estimated 38.6 percent of HIV-positive adults to get their blood levels tested.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join