I was given wrong HIV/AIDS pills – Patient

Mbabane – A person living with HIV/AIDS was allegedly given wrong pills of the virus by medical practitioners at one of the local health facilities in the country.

The name of the HIV/AIDS patient will not be disclosed for ethical reasons.
According to the patient, she went for her regular refill of her anti retroviral (ARVs) treatment at the medical institution but was on the day given a wrong prescription despite having produced the mandatory medical card provided by government for patients who live with HIV/AIDS who are to go for refill of the pills on stipulated intervals.

The patient *Ntombi, made the shocking revelation on national radio, the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Service’s (EBIS) popular HIV/AIDS programme called ‘Nomakunje, Lisekhona Litsemba’ hosted by Ntfombiyembuso Tfwala. The programme is funded and supported by the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA) and is aimed at bring hope to those who are infected by HIV/AIDS as well as those who are affected in that people who are close to them are living with the virus.

Ntombi made the allegations during the programme while being interviewed by the host while she narrated the difficulties faced by people living with HIV/AIDS.
“It once happened to me that I was given a batch of wrong HIV/AIDS medication. After taking the medication for two weeks, I started not feeling well as I became very week and I immediately knew that something was wrong,” she said.

The patient continued to explain that she suspected something was wrong with the recently refilled pills as she had been feeling well for a long time since she started taking the drugs.

“I retrieved the three containers of the pills I recently collected at the health institution. Upon their inspection, I immediately knew something was amiss. I then hurried back to the hospital from which I collect the pills. Upon arrival, I found a nurse who refused to give me attention but complained that I always had something to complain about. I tried to explain to her the seriousness of the matter I had come to discuss but she wouldn’t listen kept ignoring me. I then decided to find her senior and stormed her office. Fortunately she was willing to listen to me and I related my story. She took the medication for her inspection and discovered that I was right, I had been issued with wrong HIV/AIDS pills,” she said.

The patient alleged during the radio interview that the senior nurse acknowledged that the health institution was negligent and she was given wrong HIV/AIDS pills.
She further informed listeners that the senior nurse asked that they kept the matter a top secret as it might have serious repercussions in an event it fell on wrong ears.

“I promised to keep it secret and she then gave me the correct pills which had been initially prescribed by the doctor and I was taking.”
The patient said she spoke of the matter because she was concerned about other patients who were on ARVs treatment in the event they were given wrong medication, particularly those who were illiterate and could not read.

Communications Officer at the Ministry of Health Nsindiso Tsabedze said it was important to state that the Ministry of Health has never received a complaint relating to such allegations. Meanwhile, he said the ministry hires only healthcare workers that are qualified and trained personnel who are trusted to do their duties with excellence. “The Ministry of Health further ensures that trainings are conducted to workers where specialised additional knowledge is required,” he said.

Tsabedze added that healthcare workers at government facilities operate under guidelines and principles that govern their profession. Therefore, he said they were trusted to conduct themselves accordingly.

“The ministry sets up management structures in all facilities, and these structures oversee the facilities. If any such incidents occur, they are reported with the management team which then reports to the relevant office at the ministry. Allegations are always taken seriously and are investigated thoroughly. However, it is important to state that no such alleged incident has been reported,” he said.

In a similar incident, a groundsman at one of the clinics in Mbabane was accused of issuing wrong information to patients at the medical centre’s dispensary.

The groundsman, whose name has been deliberately withheld, had also been accused of leaking sensitive information to members of the public relating to medical records of other patients.

A source close to the situation, who also claimed to have fallen victim to the groundsman’s blunders, informed the media that the man was employed at the state-of-the art clinic a few years ago to work as a groundman.

However, due to an apparent shortage of staff at the clinic, he sometimes engaged to work as a dispenser. This, our sources claim, was despite that he had no formal qualification in medicine and/or nursing.

It is said that the ‘dispenser’, due to lack of knowledge on medical procedures, would sometimes issue out wrong medication to patients, contrary to the prescription by the nurses.

The source said she was once given wrong medication by the groundsman-turned- ‘dispenser’.

“I had a certain illness which I cannot disclose and I went to the clinic. The nurse diagnosed me and prescribed the medication. I was then told to go to the dispensary and get my medication. When I reached the dispensary, I found the groundsman there dishing out pills and medicines. He also gave me my medication. I was surprised to find him at the dispensary because I had always known him as a grounds- man,” the source alleged.

She went on to add that when she reached home, she discovered that the medication she had been given was wrong.

“Fortunately for me, I had not drunk the pills when I discovered the anomaly. I just looked at the paper written by the nurse and compared it with the medication given to me by the ‘dispenser’.

“Lo and behold, he had given me wrong medication! What he had given me was not what had been prescribed by the nurse,” said the woman.

She said she then went back to the clinic the following day and found a nurse at the dispensary. She told the nurse that she suspected that she had been given wrong medication and the nurse confirmed it.

She was then given the correct medication by the nurse.