HIV Drug Abuse on the Rise Among South African Teens

jacksonville - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa teens are increasingly abusing the anti-retroviral drug, Efavirenz, by crushing it and smoking it to get high. The drug, which is used to treat cases of HIV, has no medical benefit when smoked, is causing more and more teens to become addicted and people are seeming to look the other way when it comes to the teens and this drug.

South Africa has one of the highest rates for HIV in the world, and Efavirenz is sometimes the only thing keeping the Reaper away. Abuse of the drug is becoming cause for alarm to some, including Dr. Njabulo Masabo, of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “It’s extremely … discouraging because on one end you’re trying to fight this epidemic that has ravaged the world so much … the results are catastrophic.”

The drug is easily accessible to teens thanks in part to efforts by the American government to help distribute the ARV drug and possibly save South African lives that would have not otherwise had a chance at survival.