Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 11/19/2005

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CONTENT:

1 - MOZAMBIQUE: New campaign brings hope of a better future to OVC

2 - SWAZILAND: Hospitals run out of ARVs

1 - MOZAMBIQUE: New campaign brings hope of a better future to OVC

MAPUTO, 18 November (PLUSNEWS) - Now that the hype surrounding this month's

launch of a global campaign on HIV/AIDS and children by the UN Children's Fund

(UNICEF) and UNAIDS has subsided, Mozambique has started implementing the

initiative that will benefit thousands of children affected by the pandemic.

Government officials, the UN system and civil society organisations are working

together, planning how to scale up activities to address four priorities in

2006: prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; paediatric

treatment; prevention of new infections; protection and support for orphaned and

vulnerable children.

Although these activities have been in place for some time, the results have

been poor.

For example, a single dose of Nevirapine, given to an HIV-positive pregnant

woman just before labour, and a few drops administered to the newborn in the

first 72 hours, halves the risk of HIV transmission. In 2004, there were an

estimated 133,000 pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, but only

three percent received the medication, according to figures from the National

Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Health.

About 91,000 children under 15 are HIV-positive. " We have to do more for the

welfare of our children, " UNICEF Representative in Mozambique, Leila Pakkala,

told IRIN. " We need to scale up, to be ambitious, and we must not lower our

benchmarks. "

Apart from expanding the number of PMTCT sites, the campaign partners are also

advocating for the introduction of HIV counselling and testing in the existing

antenatal care programme. But for this to happen successfully, " we need to break

the silence and stigma, " Pakkala observed.

An estimated 62,000 children are in need of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment; by

mid 2005, only 1,226 children were receiving it.

In addition, not enough children are getting Cotrimoxazole, a low-cost

antibiotic that could almost halve child deaths from AIDS-related diseases.

Cotrimoxazole treats malaria and pneumonia and costs only US $0.03 a day, but

less than one percent of children living with HIV/AIDS access paediatric

treatment.

" We need to advocate globally for cheaper drugs for children - treatment for

children is very expensive, " Pakkala noted. " Communities, too, aren't aware that

such treatment can be available for children, so a demand needs to be created. "

The campaign will also focus on the prevention of HIV infection among young

people by expanding youth-friendly information and health services. Some 129,000

Mozambican girls and boys aged 15 to 19 are thought to be living with HIV/AIDS.

With up to 326,000 children orphaned by AIDS, and more than 500,000 caring for

sick family members, many children lack the support they need to stay in school,

receive free healthcare and access other basic rights.

The Minister of Women and Social Action, Virgília Matabele, noted that her

ministry was developing a plan of action for children, with a special focus on

orphans and vulnerable children, to support the campaign's four priorities.

The five-year campaign, known as 'Unite for Children Unite Against AIDS', is

part of a global campaign launched on 25 October by UN Secretary-General Kofi

n, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and UNAIDS Executive Director

Piot.

" This campaign is not about one organisation leading and others following. It

needs to be a movement, building a consensus and mobilising partners, in which

children participate and in which we are listening to young people, " said

Pakkala.

The start of the campaign coincided with the release of data by the health

ministry showing that the HIV prevalence rate has risen from 14.9 percent to

16.2 percent over the past two years.

First Lady da Luz Dai Guebuza warned in a press release for the launch:

" Mozambique is at a tipping point and the window of opportunity is closing

rapidly. Children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS deserve more than

inspiring words; they need leadership and concrete actions that will improve

their lives. "

[ENDS]

2 - SWAZILAND: Hospitals run out of ARVs

MBABANE, 18 November (PLUSNEWS) - Swaziland is facing a serious breakdown in the

supply of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for patients with HIV, and some hospitals

acknowledge that stocks ran out weeks ago.

Sporadic ARV shortages have been reported at the main government hospital in the

capital, Mbabane, and at the provincial government hospital in Siteki in eastern

Swaziland.

The Hlatikhulu Government Hospital in the southern Shiselweni District has

reportedly not had ARV drugs since October - for three weeks, HIV patients

arriving to refill their prescriptions have left empty-handed.

Health organisations said the derailing of ARV distribution was a setback for

efforts to treat AIDS in a country with one of the world's highest HIV

prevalence rates.

" Key to the national strategy to get people to take blood tests and determine

their HIV status has been the assurance that having HIV is not a death sentence,

because there are drugs available to treat the illness, " an official with an

AIDS counselling service told IRIN.

" We have seen people become very serious about AIDS; they are serious about

taking ARVs; they know that any interruption in their drug-taking can negate the

treatment, " said Doris Dlamini, a nurse at the RFM Hospital in the central town

of Manzini.

" My health is deteriorating - I can see it, my family can see it - the drugs

keep me alive. I was told I must not miss taking them even for one day, " said

Thab'sile Nkambule, 26, who works at an agriculture supply store and relies on

the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital for her medication.

On Friday she attempted to bypass the long queue that usually forms in front of

the hospital pharmacy by arriving at five o'clock in the morning, three hours

before the pharmacy opened. But her effort was frustrated when she was told no

ARVs were available.

The Ministry of Health could not formally comment on the nationwide shortage of

ARVs, because a spokesman was not available. However, officials told IRIN they

were aware of the drug shortage, and that appeals for help were being made to

donor organisations.

Swaziland, with an adult HIV prevalence rate estimated at over 40 percent, has

10,000 people on treatment out of the 230,000 people living with the virus.

[ENDS]

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