Swazi authorities have banned health workers from talking to the media in response to a spate of stories highlighting the impact of a critical drug shortage.

"It has been drawn to the attention of the ministry that there are health workers who indiscriminately communicate to the press without authority. You are warned to abstain from such behaviour because it is totally unacceptable to the ministry," said a memo circulated to all healthcare workers.

The memo forbids any type of communication, including interviews and casual or "indiscreet" conversations, whether at clubs, hotels, bars or private parties. Journalists have also been barred from Mbabane Government Hospital, the country's key medical facility, whose problems are emblematic of the wider crisis afflicting the healthcare system.

The ban follows a slew of media reports on the death of a five-year-old girl who was admitted to the hospital after being bitten by a rabid dog. She was not given medication, although anti-rabies drugs are supposed to be a pharmaceutical staple and always available at the hospital dispensary.

Swaziland, a small middle-income kingdom sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique, has endured two years of drug shortages. A parliamentary report blamed political interference in issuing tenders to supply government clinics and hospitals, and the inefficiency of the health ministry's Drug Advisory Board.

However, the report by a parliamentary portfolio committee was rejected by MPs, and its recommendations to clean up the drug procurement process have been ignored.

People called to testify before the committee, including Accountant-General, Elliot Sihlongoyane, cited examples of politicians and others in government who interfered with the tendering process. Last year no drugs at all were procured by the public health system.

"The 2005/06 tender for the supply of drugs was not awarded, partly because the [tender] board was not fully constituted when adjudicating tenders. For a year, government health institutions had no companies supplying them with drugs," said the report.

Health minister Njabulo Mabuza, who has been in office only a few months, has tried to put a lid on news stories about deaths allegedly linked to the ongoing drug shortage.
Two independent newspapers, the Swazi News and the Times of Swaziland, have called for Mabuza's resignation, while the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) said it intended to meet with the minister over his order gagging health workers and prohibiting the media from Mbabane Government Hospital.

"What the minister has to understand is that we go to hospitals as a matter of the public's interest," said SNAJ president Sihle Mavuso.

An official at a health facility in the central town of Manzini told IRIN that the regulation barring health personnel from speaking with the media was not new. "In fact, it began three ministers ago, but it is now being enforced because of all the stories about deaths in government hospitals."

The drug shortage has not affected the supply of antiretrovirals, which can prolong the lives of people living with HIV, as they are procured separately from other medicines. Swaziland has the world's highest HIV prevalence, with nearly 40 percent of sexually active people infected by the virus.