Morning Briefing

PlusNews examines Swaziland's national shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) stocks, HIV tests, and lab tests necessary to initiate and manage HIV patients on treatment, and the country's efforts to find funding to prevent stock-outs of these supplies. "Despite several bail-outs this year by international donors, neighboring countries and international NGOs, Swaziland remains in the grips of a months-long shortage of lab reagents needed for CD4 count testing, which measures the immune system's strength and is needed to start patients on ARVs, as well as toxicity testing important in monitoring patients' responses to treatment," the news service writes, noting that funding received in April from PEPFAR will help supply first-line ARVs through April 2012 (11/15). According to BBC News, about 65,000 of the country's 230,000 people living with HIV relies on state hospitals for ARVs (Simelane, 11/15).