Our objectives were: (1) to discover requirements for treatment of patients with AIDS (PWAs) for health-care workers in eight English-speaking African countries; (2) to establish policies for supply of drugs, and develop a method for determining the contents of parcels (PWA-BOXes) for the relief of PWAs. Fifty-seven questionnaires were sent to non-government medical units treating PWAs, supplied by the charity Inter Care. Of these 37 units replied, two had no known PWAs, three were swamped by refugees; therefore, the total number analysed was 32. Only 24 units had access to HIV testing and the mean number of PWAs per unit was 58. The reported complications of AIDS were: diarrhoea 28 units; tuberculosis 27 units; pneumonia 28 units; sexually transmitted diseases 26; candidiasis 28 units; and herpes zoster 20. Lists of drug requirements were received. We present a protocol for calculation of contents of PWA-BOXes in the hope that this will provide guidelines for other workers in this field.
PIP: Inter Care, a UK charitable organization, provides essential drugs to 120 medical units in Africa. To upgrade support to units caring for substantial numbers of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, Inter Care sent a questionnaire to 57 of its small rural hospitals and health and maternity units. Of the 37 units that returned the questionnaire, 24 reported access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) laboratory tests while another seven relied on clinical diagnostic methods. The number of AIDS patients treated per month ranged from 0 to 200 (mean, 50). Diseases and conditions most commonly associated with AIDS included diarrhea, pneumonia, candidiasis, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases. The most commonly used drugs were metronidazole, micronazole oral gel, and oxytetracycline. On the basis of these findings, Inter Care was able to modify the contents of AIDS boxes provided to its affiliates. An assumption was made that a patient with AIDS spends only two weeks in the hospital before death given the rapid progression of the disease in Africa. The drugs supplied vary according to specific requests and the type of facility, but seek to treat the AIDS-related conditions identified in the survey with the least expensive drug available. Also provided, depending on need, are HIV test kits and educational posters.