In townships around the South African port of Durban, a new, dangerous drug has emerged: Whoonga. Main ingredient: pulverized anti-AIDS drugs. As a result of the new drug hype, AIDS patients are often robbed of their drugs.

In the Kwadabeka HIV clinic panic struck: several patients have been robbed of their pills outside the clinic, some even at home! "I'm afraid," said Rafael Ngobese, he is sitting in the waiting room, along with dozens of other patients waiting for a new bimonthly supply of AIDS drugs. "Soon, they will be stabbing you down if you do not want to give your medicine."

South Africa is the country with the most HIV and AIDS patients worldwide, about 5.7 million of 49 million people are infected. Over the past years, more and more infected South Africans had access to free medication, a big step forward. The government hopes that there will be at least 2.3 million by 2013. "But as an AIDS patient, you can not be safe in this neighborhood with your medication, it's completely insane! "said Dr. Aretha Zulu, working at the Kwadabeka clinic.

Even though the pills are provided for free, the stock is not infinite. "We have given new pills to several patients who were robbed, but that means that those pills are not going to another patient. That is a huge problem, "says Zulu.

The hospital tries to encourage patients to report any medicine robbery to the police, so that each case can be registered. But if they do, the victim will directly be known as an HIV patient and there is still a huge taboo... "Especially in poor, remote areas in South Africa almost nobody dares to come out openly that he or she is HIV infected," says Zulu. Only a few of the victims have so far reported their cases.

Patients have to take their 'medicine cocktail' every day, at determined times. Each day a patients skips his or her medication, the virus will multiply itself. 

We have to act quickly and contribute to the safety of clinics and their patients. STOP the Woongha-hype and support the lives of HIV infected people in South Africa.

Anouk Tosserams, the Netherlands, 16 years old