Worry over third line ARVs supply

PEOPLE living with HIV and AIDS are concerned with the continued erratic supplies of third line anti-retroviral drugs calling on Government to send an SOS to partnering agencies for assistance. In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Activists Union president Mr Stanley Takaona said the specific drug missing was retonovir, which is used in combination with two other drugs for management of HIV in people who would have failed both initial and alternative drugs. “We are concerned by the erratic supplies of third line drugs in facilities, which are supposed to distribute these drugs such as central hospitals.

PEOPLE living with HIV and Aids are concerned with the continued erratic supplies of third line anti-retroviral drugs calling on Government to send an SOS to partnering agencies for assistance.

In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe HIV and Aids Activists Union president Mr Stanley Takaona said the specific drug missing was retonovir, which is used in combination with two other drugs for management of HIV in people who would have failed both initial and alternative drugs.

“We are concerned by the erratic supplies of third line drugs in facilities, which are supposed to distribute these drugs such as central hospitals.

“If one were to get this drug from Government institutions, it would be free of charge, but in private institutions it costs $30 for a month’s supply,” said Mr Takaona.

He said most people living with HIV were struggling to make ends meet, hence buying this drug from private institutions was a hurdle for them to access treatment, a situation that he said might threaten adherence to treatment.

He said the situation was worsened by the fact that pharmacies were also requiring cash for all procurements, which most people might not have.

“Our fear is that most people on third line might fail to adhere to their treatment now owing to these challenges, a situation that might then lead to resistance should they resume medication.

“We appeal to Government to appeal to their partners for assistance to avert this challenge before we breed another strain of drug resistant HIV,” said Mr Takaona.

Head of Aids and Tuberculosis in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Owen Mugurungi confirmed shortages of retonovir, but said Government was working flat out to solve the crisis.

“The challenge is that we had a handful of people on that combination and we could not risk overstocking fearing expirations.

“When we were doing our procurements, we were very mindful of that dilemma, but it seems the number of people developing resistance to second line treatment is actually increasing and this also gives pressure to our stocks.

“However, realising that the number of people requiring third line is increasing, we have also increased our stocks and we are actually expecting a delivery in the coming few weeks,” said Dr Mugurungi.

Although The Herald could not immediately establish how many people were on ARVs from the estimated 1,2 million people living with HIV, a sizable number of them were already on second line treatment, accounting for 35 percent of all those on ARVs.

Recently, Government was struggling to supply another drug used in the second line combination of drugs for treatment of HIV called abacavier.

These developments come amid warnings from the World Health Organisation of increased cases of drug resistant HIV, particularly in developing countries, Zimbabwe included.

Drug interruptions was one of the reasons cited for increased cases of this new strain.