BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – It is not only the Anti Retrovirals (ARVs) that are going to be distributed through the e-lockers introduced by the Elizabeth Glaser Peadiatric AIDS Foundation.
The ARVs are one of the medications that are going to be distributed through the e-lockers. According to Dr Christopher Makwindi from Elizabeth Glaser Peadiatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), the e-lockers would work more like the Auto Teller Machines (ATMs), where clients (patients) would be given a code to use to open the locker to take the medication that would be inside the shelf.
The shelf would only be exclusive to that particular client and not to anyone else. According to Dr Makwindi, the lockers are now available in places such as Mbabane, Pigg’s Peak, Hlathikhulu, and Matsanjeni (Lavumisa). He said the lockers were made in an effort to reduce the congestion that was witnessed in health facilities when clients went to fetch their medication.
He said this arrangement was not only exclusive to ARVs because some people also used other medication, other than ARVs. He said they also included medication for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), tuberculosis (TB), diabetes, family planning, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PREP). He said this was also done to avoid stigma that could lead to them as being labeled as HIV people.
Dr Makwindi said they collaborated with partners in the communities so that they could do things the right way. He said at the moment, this was happening in Hhohho and Shiselweni Regions and other regions would be served as time went on.
