Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 5/10/2006

[Guest guest]

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

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive people floundering as economy sinks

1 - ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive people floundering as economy sinks

HARARE, 10 May (PLUSNEWS) - Newspapers headlines in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare,

announced last week that anti-AIDS drugs were in perilously short supply,

endangering the lives of HIV-positive people.

The government has attributed the crumbling of its healthcare system - which

threatens its free antiretroviral (ARV) programme - to sanctions imposed by

western nations.

Whether part of a western conspiracy or not, the reality is that last month,

Evellyn Chamisa, 36, had to share her month's supply of ARVs, which help prolong

her life, with two of her friends.

" One of them [friend] gets hers from Parirenyatwa hospital but she didn't get

them last month, and one buys them privately but she had no funds because they

had increased the prices. So they came to me and I gave them each tablets so

they could at least have something, " she said. The HIV-positive widow has been

taking ARVs since February 2005.

Zimbabwe, which has one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection, is going

through a severe economic crisis. There are shortages of food and fuel and

inflation reached 913.6 percent in March.

The government's response to the AIDS crisis was to declare a state of emergency

in 2002, allowing cheaper generic drugs to be imported as well as locally made

under World Trade Organisation rules. But local generic drug manufacturers are

hamstrung by the scarcity of foreign currency, which they need to import raw

materials to make the ARVs.

Last year's Operation Murambatsvina ('Clean Out Garbage'), officially aimed at

rooting out the blackmarket and criminals, encompassed unapproved housing owned

or rented by the poor, and made life even more difficult. A year after the

campaign, AIDS NGOs are still trying to locate displaced HIV-positive people,

and fear that many have had to discontinue their drug treatment.

" We still haven't traced some clients ... they've vanished as far as we're

concerned. Others disappeared for weeks and were homeless and incomeless, which

means they were not eating, and that's a problem when taking [ARVs], " Lynde

Francis, who runs The Centre, an HIV/AIDS NGO with 4,500 registered clients,

told IRIN.

Any interruption in treatment can lead to the HI-virus becoming resistant to the

medication, hastening progress towards AIDS.

Chamisa was one of the victims of Murambatsvina. She was living with her two

sons in a back room in Harare's high-density suburb of Kambuzuma when the

crackdown on informal settlements was launched. She was forced out of her home

but fortunately her landlady allowed her to move into the two-bedroomed main

house.

Francis pointed out that a growing number of people were finding it harder to

obtain ARVs in the present economic climate, making resistance to first-line

medication inevitable, as " it only takes a few [missed] doses to develop

resistance " .

People living with HIV/AIDS begin treatment on first-line drugs, and only need

second-line ARVs if they become resistant. In Zimbabwe, second-line treatment is

not free.

The Harare district coordinator of the beleaguered Zimbabwean Network of People

Living with HIV/AIDS (ZNNP+), Sebastian Chinhaira, said accessing ARVs " in the

first place " was a big enough challenge.

" People wait for a long time, there are long waiting lists, we are told there

are no doctors, and now, because the prices in the private sector are too high,

they are coming to government hospitals and causing even more bottlenecks, " the

HIV-positive grandfather of three commented.

An estimated 26,000 people are receiving ARVs, but just over 340,000 need them.

Accessing medication is also vital to people who are not yet eligible for

anti-AIDS treatment, but are suffering opportunistic infections; they often find

there are no medicines in clinics. " If you get a prescription and have to pay

for medicines, you have no choice but to throw it [prescription] away, "

Chinhaira said.

WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT

Zimbabweans have had to make do with very little HIV/AIDS donor funding, which

Lynde Francis described as trying to manage an " ever-expanding problem with an

ever-diminishing pot of money " .

She said it was " understandable " that donors wouldn't want to " prop up " the

existing government, but pointed out that by " withdrawing [funding] it's not the

regime suffering, it's the man on the street " .

Chinhaira agreed, saying, " It really is true that when elephants fight, it is

the grass that suffers. " According to a 2004 analysis by the World Bank,

neighbouring Zambia received US$187 in aid for every HIV-positive citizen,

whereas Zimbabwe's strained relations with some donors meant it received just $4

per person.

After a three-year delay, a US $10.3 million grant by the Global Fund to Fight

AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is finally making its way to Zimbabwe. But

activists have stressed that this paled in comparison to what countries " just

across the [Zambezi] river " were receiving from international donors.

Nevertheless, AIDS NGOs are managing to make a difference. The way Francis sees

it, " it's like we're on a speeding train with no brakes, and we're trying to

save as many people as we can on a day-to-day basis " .

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

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Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

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Fax: +27 11 784-6759

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Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

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

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive people floundering as economy sinks

1 - ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive people floundering as economy sinks

HARARE, 10 May (PLUSNEWS) - Newspapers headlines in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare,

announced last week that anti-AIDS drugs were in perilously short supply,

endangering the lives of HIV-positive people.

The government has attributed the crumbling of its healthcare system - which

threatens its free antiretroviral (ARV) programme - to sanctions imposed by

western nations.

Whether part of a western conspiracy or not, the reality is that last month,

Evellyn Chamisa, 36, had to share her month's supply of ARVs, which help prolong

her life, with two of her friends.

" One of them [friend] gets hers from Parirenyatwa hospital but she didn't get

them last month, and one buys them privately but she had no funds because they

had increased the prices. So they came to me and I gave them each tablets so

they could at least have something, " she said. The HIV-positive widow has been

taking ARVs since February 2005.

Zimbabwe, which has one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection, is going

through a severe economic crisis. There are shortages of food and fuel and

inflation reached 913.6 percent in March.

The government's response to the AIDS crisis was to declare a state of emergency

in 2002, allowing cheaper generic drugs to be imported as well as locally made

under World Trade Organisation rules. But local generic drug manufacturers are

hamstrung by the scarcity of foreign currency, which they need to import raw

materials to make the ARVs.

Last year's Operation Murambatsvina ('Clean Out Garbage'), officially aimed at

rooting out the blackmarket and criminals, encompassed unapproved housing owned

or rented by the poor, and made life even more difficult. A year after the

campaign, AIDS NGOs are still trying to locate displaced HIV-positive people,

and fear that many have had to discontinue their drug treatment.

" We still haven't traced some clients ... they've vanished as far as we're

concerned. Others disappeared for weeks and were homeless and incomeless, which

means they were not eating, and that's a problem when taking [ARVs], " Lynde

Francis, who runs The Centre, an HIV/AIDS NGO with 4,500 registered clients,

told IRIN.

Any interruption in treatment can lead to the HI-virus becoming resistant to the

medication, hastening progress towards AIDS.

Chamisa was one of the victims of Murambatsvina. She was living with her two

sons in a back room in Harare's high-density suburb of Kambuzuma when the

crackdown on informal settlements was launched. She was forced out of her home

but fortunately her landlady allowed her to move into the two-bedroomed main

house.

Francis pointed out that a growing number of people were finding it harder to

obtain ARVs in the present economic climate, making resistance to first-line

medication inevitable, as " it only takes a few [missed] doses to develop

resistance " .

People living with HIV/AIDS begin treatment on first-line drugs, and only need

second-line ARVs if they become resistant. In Zimbabwe, second-line treatment is

not free.

The Harare district coordinator of the beleaguered Zimbabwean Network of People

Living with HIV/AIDS (ZNNP+), Sebastian Chinhaira, said accessing ARVs " in the

first place " was a big enough challenge.

" People wait for a long time, there are long waiting lists, we are told there

are no doctors, and now, because the prices in the private sector are too high,

they are coming to government hospitals and causing even more bottlenecks, " the

HIV-positive grandfather of three commented.

An estimated 26,000 people are receiving ARVs, but just over 340,000 need them.

Accessing medication is also vital to people who are not yet eligible for

anti-AIDS treatment, but are suffering opportunistic infections; they often find

there are no medicines in clinics. " If you get a prescription and have to pay

for medicines, you have no choice but to throw it [prescription] away, "

Chinhaira said.

WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT

Zimbabweans have had to make do with very little HIV/AIDS donor funding, which

Lynde Francis described as trying to manage an " ever-expanding problem with an

ever-diminishing pot of money " .

She said it was " understandable " that donors wouldn't want to " prop up " the

existing government, but pointed out that by " withdrawing [funding] it's not the

regime suffering, it's the man on the street " .

Chinhaira agreed, saying, " It really is true that when elephants fight, it is

the grass that suffers. " According to a 2004 analysis by the World Bank,

neighbouring Zambia received US$187 in aid for every HIV-positive citizen,

whereas Zimbabwe's strained relations with some donors meant it received just $4

per person.

After a three-year delay, a US $10.3 million grant by the Global Fund to Fight

AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is finally making its way to Zimbabwe. But

activists have stressed that this paled in comparison to what countries " just

across the [Zambezi] river " were receiving from international donors.

Nevertheless, AIDS NGOs are managing to make a difference. The way Francis sees

it, " it's like we're on a speeding train with no brakes, and we're trying to

save as many people as we can on a day-to-day basis " .

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments