Doctors and ARVs in short supply

Municipal health officials in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, are struggling to cope with growing waiting lists of people in need of HIV treatment and too few doctors to prescribe the drugs.



"We have between 300 and 400 people on the waiting list for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and we can only cater for eight people from each of our 15 clinics per week. We fear it might take up to a year before a patient is put on ARV drug therapy," Bulawayo City Council clinical officer Dr Edwin Sibanda told IRIN/PlusNews.



More than 320,000 people in Zimbabwe are in need of ARV treatment; of the 1.7 million living with HIV, only about 150,000 are obtaining the medication from the public health sector.



Bulawayo, with at least 1.8 million residents, is also burdened with a crippling TB epidemic.



Sibanda noted that Zimbabweans, who cross the border in search of better economic opportunities in South Africa, are returning to Bulawayo clinics for treatment, as they are unable to easily access ARVs in South Africa.



"They come for diagnosis when they are in such bad shape that we are forced at times to allow them to jump the queue for antiretrovirals," he added.



Sibusiso Ncube, 27, decided to avoid the long waiting lists in Bulawayo by enrolling for free ARV treatment in rural Nyamandhlovu, about 40km west of the city, at the end of 2008. The process was relatively simple and there was no queue, but he has recently been finding it difficult to get the drugs from the rural clinic.



"The clinic staff say they have run out of drugs, so I have to buy from nurses here for 300 rands (US$40)," Ncube told IRIN/PlusNews.



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