Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 12/30/2003

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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CONTENT:

1 - SWAZILAND: AIDS toll leads to flood of bogus " miracle " cures

1 - SWAZILAND: AIDS toll leads to flood of bogus " miracle " cures

MBABANE, 29 December (PLUSNEWS) - The authorities in Swaziland are doing

little to stem a flood of bogus " miracle AIDS cures " in a country with one

of the world's highest HIV infection rates.

" In a blink of an eye, it seems, Swazis have gone from deep denial of the

existence of AIDS to panic as they realise all the people they are burying

are not dying of witchcraft. The plethora of AIDS 'cures' is a product of

that, " AIDS activist Thembi Dlamini told PlusNews.

According to press reports, the supplier of one " AIDS vaccine " in pill

form, manufactured in Thailand, is providing the Swazi army with the drug,

although there is no proof of its efficacy.

Neither the army nor the drug's distributor, Sutitangwe Medical Services

of Mbabane, owned by two Thai nationals and a Swazi, would comment when

PlusNews contacted them.

For R500 (US $77), which is more than the monthly take-home pay of an

average Swazi worker in industry and agriculture, a packet of 30 " HIV

vaccine pills " will purportedly protect a body's immune system from viral

infections for one month. One pill, called an V1 Immunitor, is taken

orally daily.

Ngwebendze Nhlabatsi, one of the drug's promoters, said in a statement:

" Nobody in the Ministry of Health is qualified to comment for or against

this pill. Neither the minister, the principal secretary nor the chief

pharmacist is qualified. In fact, nobody in the country is qualified to

comment. "

Nhlabatsi's defiant stance underscored the lack of pharmaceutical

regulation in Swaziland. Police conduct regular raids against illegal

narcotics, arresting possessors of marijuana and other drugs, and burning

marijuana fields. However, laws governing medicinal drugs are either

obsolete or not enforced.

" In the absence of a competent national medical system, it is as if the

authorities want people to find their own 'cures' through quack remedies, "

said Angelina Magongo, a nurse at a clinic in the capital Mbabane.

Only if individuals are poisoned by a " medicine " will the authorities take

action.

But this is done at the local level, through city and municipal health

inspectors who usually regulate the cleanliness of restaurants and

abattoirs. The Ministry of Health follows a laissez-faire policy toward

so-called medicines sold both through an informal sector network of

sidewalk vendors and unlicensed medicine dealers and at legitimate and

licensed establishments.

As a result, one fad " cure " after another has begun to appear.

" I use herbs from Asia. I started in January. They are expensive. I choose

between them and new clothes. But I know they are helping me, " said Janice

Simelane, a receptionist in the commercial city of Manzini who, like most

Swazis, will not publically admit she is HIV-positive.

Last month, UNAIDS reported that Swaziland had now tied with Botswana in

having the world's worst rate of infection among adults - about 40 percent

of the population.

The Swazi press has uncritically hailed the arrival of each new AIDS

" cure " , focusing on the popularity of the fad drugs without questioning

their effectiveness.

A front-page story in the Times of Swaziland heralded the appearance of

the V1 Immunitor: " All the way from Thailand, a new wonder drug marketed

as an AIDS vaccine has hit the local market with a bang! "

The head of the education ministry's Exams Council, Dr Ben Dlamini, writes

a weekly column in the Swazi Observer newspaper announcing HIV vaccines

and AIDS cures, none of which have been proved legitimate.

This week, Dlamini, who is considered a national intellectual, wrote how

marijuana can cure AIDS. He told Swazis that Britain has a R1 billion (US

$154 million) business providing cannabis-based pain killers to hospitals,

and tests are now underway to use the medicine to beat AIDS and cancer.

" There is no question that these tests will be confirmed, because

England's neighbour, the Netherlands, has already approved the use of

cannabis capsules for curing cancer and AIDS, " he wrote.

From May through September this year, evangelical preachers from America

and Africa held mass " healing " sessions that were attended by tens of

thousands of Swazis. Advertisements for the events promised AIDS cures.

Meanwhile, it is still culturally taboo to admit one's HIV-positive

status. Psychiatrists say the strain of secrecy adds to stress caused by

the medical condition.

" People can snap, and become irrational. They grasp at anything that

offers hope, " said Dr Thandie Malepe, director of the National Psychiatric

Centre.

A private medical practitioner in Manzini who preferred not to have his

name used, said the problem is that Swaziland has no drug-testing facility

to verify the safety and efficacy of medicines.

Ironically, it was the lack of such a facility that former health minister

Dr Phetsile Dlamini cited as the reason to ban antiretroviral (ARV) drugs

from Swaziland. As a result, Swaziland was excluded from a 14-nation

US-financed programme to use ARVs to prevent mother-to-child transmission

of HIV.

Swaziland's exclusion from the programme was reportedly a contributing

factor to the kingdom's absence from President Bush's multi-million

dollar African initiative, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The minister's controversial stance delayed ARVs for five years. Only now

are they starting to trickle into the country.

" Proven life-saving medicines are denied the Swazi people. But any

charlatan can peddle any 'cure' he likes, and the health ministry won't

lift a finger, " said activist Dlamini.

[ENDS]

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