Swaziland looking to shore up funding for AIDS treatment, testing supplies

"Cash-strapped Swaziland is struggling to fund its HIV programs, and experts are warning of long-term damage to treatment and prevention schemes if steps are not taken to ring-fence funding and supplies," the Mail & Guardian reports. About 200,000 people are living with HIV in Swaziland, nearly one quarter of the population, the newspaper notes, adding, "Until now the government has done well in terms of providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment -- achieving 78 percent coverage, just under the World Health Organization's 'universal coverage' rate of 80 percent. But there are fears that uncertainty about funding streams and weak supply-chain management could result in a reversal of this progress." The article discusses funding from the government, PEPFAR, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; antiretroviral drug and testing supply problems; and the epidemic's effect on children and life expectancy in the country (Redvers, 2/27).