For Immediate Release

VIENNA, Austria/EWORLDWIRE/June 30, 2010 --- Austrian watchdog organization PAMOJA says that quality of care at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital, Makete District, Tanzania, has dropped tremendously since the violent interruption of a state-of-the-art Antiretroviral Treatment Program.

In April 2006, People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Makete District, Tanzania, protested against the embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars designated for health care and community development by the Lutheran Church of Tanzania and its supporting European and North American missionary societies. This widely published outcry of the local community was followed by the temporary closure of a local HIV treatment clinic that treated many of the protesters. Through this move, church and hospital authorities actively denied the state-of-the-art treatment for HIV patients at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital. Since that event, the local self-help group for PLWHA - Pima Uishi Kwa Matumaini (PIUMA) (http://www.piuma-simba.org) - has complained repeatedly about poorly monitored and late-onset treatment at the reopened clinic and has counted more than 70 deaths among patients, many of them members of PIUMA.

Randomly collected data from personal health records of 113 patients of the HIV clinic at Bulongwa Lutheran Hospital indicates with high statistical significance that the frequency of important laboratory investigations dropped by a factor of 3.2. The data also shows that there were cases where treatment was delayed for months, even years, with no justification or reason. Monitoring of potentially life-threatening side effects was poorly performed, and patients were not switched to better alternative therapies that are widely available in Tanzania.

"The data we see is fragmentary and difficult to interpret," said Dr. Chen Lei, a Chinese public health expert. "There is a need for further investigation of the situation and its effects on the patients."

Dr. Rainer Brandl, a Vienna-based clinician and PIUMA consultant, said, "The records show information is not kept properly and that there is a culture of secrecy as well as an intention to prevent further research. Local reports that church employees intentionally keep people away from life-saving treatment seems supported by the data."

PAMOJA demands that the International AIDS Society (IAS) refuse to allow itself and the upcoming 18th International AIDS conference in Vienna to be used as public platforms for organizations that claim to be fighting HIV/AIDS while actively denying the human right to basic health care, such as the Lutheran Church.

Contact: Fabian Wirnsperger, E-mail: fabian_wirnsperger@pamoja.at; Cell: +43650 533 88 27; PAMOJA - TOGETHER - Association for Intl. Cooperation, Marxergasse 23/11, 1030 Vienna, Austria/Europe; www.Pamoja.at (http://www.pamoja.at)

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CONTACT:
Fabian Wirnsperger
PAMOJA
Marxergasse 23/11
Vienna, Austria 1030
PHONE. +43-650-533-88-27
E-MAIL. office@pamoja.at
http://www.pamoja.at

SOURCE: PAMOJA -TOGETHER - Association for Intl. Cooperation