Septrin or ARVs?
Jul 18, 2003
GOVERNMENT IS considering provision of free Anti-Retroviral drugs for government workers in both rural and urban areas.
GOVERNMENT IS considering provision of free Anti-Retroviral drugs for government workers in both rural and urban areas.
Presently around 10,000 people are receiving ARVs from the Joint Clinical Research Centre and various clinics. This is more than any other African country except South Africa. Once again Uganda is in the vanguard of battling the AIDS pandemic.
However the decision to provide ARVs to all affected government workers needs to be very carefully scrutinised.
The first concern must be cost. Government officials are talking about providing anti-retrovirals for up to 100,000 people. This would cost a minimum of 6.5 billion shillings per month, or 40 million US dollars per year for the drugs alone. The cost could be far greater when the necessary medical support structure is taken into account.
Furthermore there are low cost options that could also be considered. There have been very successful programmes in Uganda giving the drug Septrin to people with HIV. Septrin costs only a few thousand shillings per month but dramatically reduces all infections in HIV positive people. This might be a more feasible alternative for
government to adopt.
Septrin is especially attractive because it is easy to take and administer. ARVs have to be taken under a very strict regimen that many people do not like because they can suffer adverse side effects. Yet there is a high risk that the HIV virus will mutate and, like chloroquine, develop resistance to ARVs if they are not taken regularly and systematically.
Government needs to review this
proposal very carefully. It may end up spending a lot of money on ARVs with risky consequences when simpler more affordable alternatives are available.
Presently around 10,000 people are receiving ARVs from the Joint Clinical Research Centre and various clinics. This is more than any other African country except South Africa. Once again Uganda is in the vanguard of battling the AIDS pandemic.
However the decision to provide ARVs to all affected government workers needs to be very carefully scrutinised.
The first concern must be cost. Government officials are talking about providing anti-retrovirals for up to 100,000 people. This would cost a minimum of 6.5 billion shillings per month, or 40 million US dollars per year for the drugs alone. The cost could be far greater when the necessary medical support structure is taken into account.
Furthermore there are low cost options that could also be considered. There have been very successful programmes in Uganda giving the drug Septrin to people with HIV. Septrin costs only a few thousand shillings per month but dramatically reduces all infections in HIV positive people. This might be a more feasible alternative for
government to adopt.
Septrin is especially attractive because it is easy to take and administer. ARVs have to be taken under a very strict regimen that many people do not like because they can suffer adverse side effects. Yet there is a high risk that the HIV virus will mutate and, like chloroquine, develop resistance to ARVs if they are not taken regularly and systematically.
Government needs to review this
proposal very carefully. It may end up spending a lot of money on ARVs with risky consequences when simpler more affordable alternatives are available.