South African drug users stealing AIDS treatments

STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images To get high, some South African drug addicts have reached a new low. Durban’s provincial health department recently reported an alarming level of thefts of Stocrin, an antiretroviral drug treatment used to treat AIDS. Drug users reportedly crush the Stocrin with marijuana to get an extra-potent yet extra-dangerous high. The mixture breaks ...

594260_080703_aidsdrugs5.jpg
594260_080703_aidsdrugs5.jpg

STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images

STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images

To get high, some South African drug addicts have reached a new low.

Durban’s provincial health department recently reported an alarming level of thefts of Stocrin, an antiretroviral drug treatment used to treat AIDS. Drug users reportedly crush the Stocrin with marijuana to get an extra-potent yet extra-dangerous high. The mixture breaks down the body’s immune system “and eventually leads to death,” according to Anwar Jeera, the head of a South African rehabilitation centre. But the ones most hurt by the thefts are of course South Africa’s AIDS patients, many of whom have been ambushed by drug thieves on their way home from the hospital. In a country where five and a half million people suffer from AIDS, a crime-induced shortage of the life-saving antiretroviral treatments — which 478,000 South Africans are registered to use — is very bad news indeed.

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.