The Swaziland Ministry
of Health is to investigate a report that a Manzini-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) is allegedly testing children under
the age of 12 for HIV without parental consent in order to reach their quotas.
The Sunday Observer newspaper in Swaziland reported (16 April 2017) that
employees of the organisation which it did not name were upset at having to
test young children to reach their monthly quotas.
The newspaper said it was
alleged to have happened over the past weeks in Nhlambeni, Madvuma, Mkhweli,
Mpumakudze and Ngewini.
It quoted one unnamed
employee saying, ‘We get away with this because these are rural communities. With
the area being rural, most people are ignorant of their rights and relent after
we plead with them to assist us with bringing random children into our
confidence to be tested.’
The source said employees
feared for their jobs if they did not do this. The director of the organisation
denied the claims.
The Swazi Director of Health Vusi Magagula told the
newspaper, ‘These
are serious allegations that need investigation.’
No comments:
Post a Comment