Rundu
Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) were found discarded at the Rundu Junior Primary School sports field, causing alarm among parents who fear their children might have been exposed to a health hazard.
The discovery is a slap in the face of government’s efforts to try to contain HIV and its effects among Namibians.
The drugs, which are believed to have been thrown away by an HIV patient, were found last week Thursday by people who took a short cut at the bushy side of the primary school’s sports ground.
A nurse who lives nearby the school was informed about the discovery and she in turn informed a state pharmacist at the Rundu State Hospital.
The school field has no ablution facilities so learners and people who walk by use the bushes when nature calls.
“The worst thing here is that it’s nearby the school; there is a high risk of children picking them up and using them,” said Merhaba Nesredin, a pharmacist at the Rundu hospital who went to pick up the tablets on Friday.
“If children chew on the pills they can experience organ damage; they can have an effect on the liver and other organs and in the end they might die,” he said.
New Era reported two weeks ago on another batch of ARVs, which was discovered at an Okahandja Park dump site. A community activist said that some HIV patients throw away the medicine because they have no food to take with the medicine, while others complained their faces swell up after taking the tablets.
Nesredin urged residents not to throw away their ARVs but rather to take them back to health facilities if they do want them, to avoid endangering children.
“They must return them to the nearest clinic so that they can be safely attended to and the other thing is that even animals can easily eat the discarded ARVs while grazing. By carelessly discarding the ARV drugs or any drugs this way you not only endanger children but also domesticated and wild animals, like dogs, cats and others,” he said.
Nesredin also warned about the dangers of not taking ARVs as prescribed.
“Adherence should be very high for HIV patients, and they should take their medicine everyday to keep them well. If they do not take their medication regularly, the probability of the virus resisting the medicine will be high and at the end of the day the medicine might not work on the specific patient,” he said.