MBABANE: Swaziland s government has opened talks with Egypt in a bid to end the impoverished country s shortage of medicinal drugs for hospitals, a spokesman for the prime minister said Wednesday.
Our talks with Egypt are already at an advanced stage such that we are expecting to sign on the dotted line soon and that would come as a relief to the country s ailing health system, said spokesman Percy Simelane.
Huge demand in the South African market meant that the country was unable to export enough medicine to neighboring Swaziland, and that had led to a massive shortfall in the tiny landlocked nation, he added.
South Africa had, however, managed to provide a recent consignment of 42 tons of medicine.
Swaziland also planned to approach Cuba for help, to avoid having to rely on one country for its needs.
Swaziland is one of Africa s poorest countries, where 70 percent of the 1.1 million population live on less than one dollar a day, with the world s highest rate of HIV infections.
