HIV/AIDS- No more free drugs

Aug 30, 2009

PEOPLE Living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) have pleaded with the Ministry of Health and National Medical Stores to tackle the drug shortage or face a social disaster.

By Elvis Basudde

PEOPLE Living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) have pleaded with the Ministry of Health and National Medical Stores to tackle the drug shortage or face a social disaster.

Accusing the ministry of negligence, the activists said they do not understand why the ministry cannot start new patients on antiretroviral therapy, yet drugs are expiring in stores.

“People who qualify for free ARVs are being turned away by health service providers,” says Richard Sserunkuuma, the national coordinator of Positive Men’s Union (POMU), an association of men living with HIV.

Some PHAs who have not accessed ARVs for sometime and those who claim to have been denied drugs expressed their dismay during a conference at the POMU offices in Mengo recently.

Prossy Nansubuga says she was denied treatment by two accredited health facilities who said they had provision for only old clients.

The AIDS activists said: “If the Government does not put in place quick provisions, there could be irreversible shifts in Uganda’s war against HIV.”

Dr. Elizabeth Namagala, a senior medical officer with the STD/AIDS Control Programme in the Health Ministry, says about 1.1 million people are living with the virus.

The number of new HIV infections was about 135,000 in 2007. Another 312,000 people have advanced AIDS and need ARVs, but only 130,000 (42%) were getting the medication by the end of 2008.

About 12,000 (10%) were children under 15. An average of 1,500 patients are enrolled on ART per month; 60,000 (49%) in the public sector, while 70% are under the US Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

A doctor in an accredited health unit who preferred anonymity said the credit crunch has forced some donors to reduce funding hence financially affecting the local organisations that cater for PHAs.

Dr. Kihumuro Apuuli, the director general of the Uganda AIDS Commission, told The New Vision recently that the future might be worse if the economic crisis continues.

About 96% of Uganda’s ARV programme is funded by Europe and the US. The two major contributors are the Global Fund and PEPFAR.

ARVs are still the best hope for treatment. They boost the body’s defence mechanism and extend one’s life.

Currently, over 300 health facilities in Uganda distribute free drugs. They include Mulago Hospital, the Infectious Diseases Institute and Makerere-Mbarara Joint AIDS Programme among others

However, TASO-Mulago say they have never turned anyone away. Robert Nakubumba, the organisation’s spokesperson says they gave ARVs to 18,000 clients last year but the number has grown to 23,000, adding that they plan to take on 10,000 more by December.

Nsambya Hospital which caters for 15,000 people, Kamwokya Community Church for 14,000 people and Mildmay Centre for over 20,000 clients, have stopped taking on new patients due to limited funds.

However, George Baguma, the director of marketing at Quality Chemicals, says they have not suspended production of ARVs and have the capacity to produce any volume of drugs ordered by the Government.

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