Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 5/2/2006

[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 - SOUTH AFRICA: Positive immigrants

1 - SOUTH AFRICA: Positive immigrants

JOHANNESBURG, 2 May (PLUSNEWS) - Living with HIV in South Africa presents plenty

of challenges: those most affected are often the poorest and lack access to

jobs, housing and proper sanitation; the disease still carries a strong stigma

and many prefer to carry the burden of their status alone rather than risk

sharing it with friends and family.

But since the government began rolling out free antiretroviral (ARV) treatment

two years ago, and many people living with HIV are also accessing social grants,

the possibility of living a more normal life is better than it was.

Unless, that is, you are an undocumented immigrant, one of an unknown number -

thought to be in the millions - who have flocked to the continent's wealthiest

country, hoping to find a better life.

Even without the complication of being HIV positive, they are often

disappointed. They face a largely hostile local population, exploitative work

situations if they find work at all, and none of the support from family and

friends they could rely on at home. Women and children are especially

vulnerable.

Thuli [not her real name] came to South Africa from Swaziland with her mother

and brother in 1999. Her mother worked as a cleaner in Germiston, to the east of

Johannesburg, for R50 ($8) a week until she began suffering from a hacking cough

a few years later. The local hospital told her there was nothing they could do

and sent her home, but her condition worsened and a month later she died.

" I think if she had had a [south African] ID, maybe it was going to be better, "

Thuli said. " She could have got a better job and maybe she would have got

better. "

At the time of her mother's death Thuli was pregnant and sick. She had tested

positive for HIV at the hospital but without documentation was not eligible for

treatment. A social worker brought her to Nazareth House, a Catholic mission in

the inner-city neighbourhood of Yeoville, where Thuli gave birth to a healthy

baby. Since then she has been living at the hospice while working in the kitchen

and receiving ARV treatment.

" I think I was lucky to come here, " she says. " My CD4 count [which measures the

strength of the immune system] was 52 - I thought I was going to die. "

For someone in Thuli's predicament, Nazareth House is the sole option in

Johannesburg. Only South African citizens and refugees with the appropriate

paperwork can access ARV treatment at government hospitals and clinics.

While some undocumented migrants are too fearful of arrest even to seek

treatment, others are turned away without receiving any information about

alternative options. The lucky ones are referred to Nazareth House, where the

Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), with funding from

President Bush's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has been providing ARV

treatment to anyone who needs it since early 2004.

Countrywide, the SACBC is providing ARVs to about 7,000 patients. Sister Sylvia

Simpwalo, who runs the ARV clinic at Nazareth House, estimates that out of 300

patients receiving ARV treatment there, 90 percent are non-South Africans.

Even so, concedes Johan Viljoen, project manager for SACBC's ARV programme, " we

don't have enough capacity and there is a waiting list; we're restricted by the

amount of funding we get " .

That funding will only last for the next three years. While the American

government is expected to renew its commitment, the SACBC is keen to expand its

partnership with the South African government to achieve long-term

sustainability, but transferring patients to the national ARV programme will

mean the exclusion of undocumented immigrants.

While Viljoen acknowledges everyone's right to access healthcare, as outlined in

South Africa's Bill of Rights, he also recognises some of the obstacles to

treating HIV positive immigrants.

" It's very difficult to do patient follow-up, " he pointed out. " You might have

somebody who starts treatment and then moves back to their country and stops

treatment. They may develop drug resistance. "

Many HIV positive immigrants do not know about Nazareth House. Bishop

Verryn, who shelters homeless illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the

Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg's city centre, said many of the

hundreds of men and women who bed down each night on the floor of his church are

HIV positive. He has no funding to assist them, and his only recourse is to call

an ambulance for the seriously ill and hope they qualify for emergency

treatment.

" We've had four people that I know of who died in hospital because they were not

given treatment, " he commented.

Pascal, 38, [not his real name], who arrived in South Africa from Nigeria 12

years ago, was almost another fatality. After he tried to access treatment at a

local hospital and was told by staff to go home and die in his own country,

Pascal became so sick that he had to abandon his business as a pavement

hairdresser.

Unable to walk or buy food, a friend eventually took him to Nazareth House.

Despite a virtually non-existent CD4 count he responded to ARV treatment and is

now well enough to start worrying about how he's going to get his business going

again.

" They really saved my life, " he said.

[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

[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 - SOUTH AFRICA: Positive immigrants

1 - SOUTH AFRICA: Positive immigrants

JOHANNESBURG, 2 May (PLUSNEWS) - Living with HIV in South Africa presents plenty

of challenges: those most affected are often the poorest and lack access to

jobs, housing and proper sanitation; the disease still carries a strong stigma

and many prefer to carry the burden of their status alone rather than risk

sharing it with friends and family.

But since the government began rolling out free antiretroviral (ARV) treatment

two years ago, and many people living with HIV are also accessing social grants,

the possibility of living a more normal life is better than it was.

Unless, that is, you are an undocumented immigrant, one of an unknown number -

thought to be in the millions - who have flocked to the continent's wealthiest

country, hoping to find a better life.

Even without the complication of being HIV positive, they are often

disappointed. They face a largely hostile local population, exploitative work

situations if they find work at all, and none of the support from family and

friends they could rely on at home. Women and children are especially

vulnerable.

Thuli [not her real name] came to South Africa from Swaziland with her mother

and brother in 1999. Her mother worked as a cleaner in Germiston, to the east of

Johannesburg, for R50 ($8) a week until she began suffering from a hacking cough

a few years later. The local hospital told her there was nothing they could do

and sent her home, but her condition worsened and a month later she died.

" I think if she had had a [south African] ID, maybe it was going to be better, "

Thuli said. " She could have got a better job and maybe she would have got

better. "

At the time of her mother's death Thuli was pregnant and sick. She had tested

positive for HIV at the hospital but without documentation was not eligible for

treatment. A social worker brought her to Nazareth House, a Catholic mission in

the inner-city neighbourhood of Yeoville, where Thuli gave birth to a healthy

baby. Since then she has been living at the hospice while working in the kitchen

and receiving ARV treatment.

" I think I was lucky to come here, " she says. " My CD4 count [which measures the

strength of the immune system] was 52 - I thought I was going to die. "

For someone in Thuli's predicament, Nazareth House is the sole option in

Johannesburg. Only South African citizens and refugees with the appropriate

paperwork can access ARV treatment at government hospitals and clinics.

While some undocumented migrants are too fearful of arrest even to seek

treatment, others are turned away without receiving any information about

alternative options. The lucky ones are referred to Nazareth House, where the

Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), with funding from

President Bush's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has been providing ARV

treatment to anyone who needs it since early 2004.

Countrywide, the SACBC is providing ARVs to about 7,000 patients. Sister Sylvia

Simpwalo, who runs the ARV clinic at Nazareth House, estimates that out of 300

patients receiving ARV treatment there, 90 percent are non-South Africans.

Even so, concedes Johan Viljoen, project manager for SACBC's ARV programme, " we

don't have enough capacity and there is a waiting list; we're restricted by the

amount of funding we get " .

That funding will only last for the next three years. While the American

government is expected to renew its commitment, the SACBC is keen to expand its

partnership with the South African government to achieve long-term

sustainability, but transferring patients to the national ARV programme will

mean the exclusion of undocumented immigrants.

While Viljoen acknowledges everyone's right to access healthcare, as outlined in

South Africa's Bill of Rights, he also recognises some of the obstacles to

treating HIV positive immigrants.

" It's very difficult to do patient follow-up, " he pointed out. " You might have

somebody who starts treatment and then moves back to their country and stops

treatment. They may develop drug resistance. "

Many HIV positive immigrants do not know about Nazareth House. Bishop

Verryn, who shelters homeless illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the

Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg's city centre, said many of the

hundreds of men and women who bed down each night on the floor of his church are

HIV positive. He has no funding to assist them, and his only recourse is to call

an ambulance for the seriously ill and hope they qualify for emergency

treatment.

" We've had four people that I know of who died in hospital because they were not

given treatment, " he commented.

Pascal, 38, [not his real name], who arrived in South Africa from Nigeria 12

years ago, was almost another fatality. After he tried to access treatment at a

local hospital and was told by staff to go home and die in his own country,

Pascal became so sick that he had to abandon his business as a pavement

hairdresser.

Unable to walk or buy food, a friend eventually took him to Nazareth House.

Despite a virtually non-existent CD4 count he responded to ARV treatment and is

now well enough to start worrying about how he's going to get his business going

again.

" They really saved my life, " he said.

[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