Aug 28, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- The shortage of anti-retroviral
drugs (ARVs) is about to end, the director general of health services, Dr Sam
Zaramba, has assured the public.
He told The New Vision on Tuesday [28 August] that Ministry of Health was
waiting for a batch of ARVs (AIDS drugs) from Quality Chemicals Industries,
which will "arrive any time".
"There is no need to panic because we are ensuring that ARVs are delivered on
time.
"The shortage is temporary and it is global because of the increased demand
worldwide."
He added that even the ingredients used in the manufacture of the drugs had also
become scarce. The government ordered for ARVs worth 1.8m dollars (3bn
shillings) from Quality Chemicals, a pharmaceutical company based in Luzira,
Kampala.
The pharmaceutical's chief executive, Emmanuel Katongole, last week told The New
Vision that the first batch of the drugs would be delivered this week.
Last week, health officials confirmed a shortage of ARVs at both the national
stores and the various designated sites in the country.
Meanwhile, Dr Kenya Mugisha, the director of Health Services (clinical and
community), had said ARVs for children are also running out. Of the 50,000
children in immediate need of HIV treatment, only 10,000 are accessing the
medication.
In Uganda, the number of people in immediate need of the drugs had risen from
about 225,000 in 2006 to 312,000 today.
On average, 1,500 patients are enrolled on Anti-Retroviral Therapy every month.
An estimated 1.1 million Ugandans are living with the virus that causes AIDS.
Currently, 130,000 patients, including 10,000 children, are receiving Arvs. This
is about 42 per cent of the total number of people in urgent need of the drugs.
This percentage is one of the highest on the African continent.
Highly active anti-retroviral therapy, the medication that suppresses HIV to the
extent that it can not be detected in blood, first became available in Uganda in
1998.
Source: The New Vision website, Kampala, in English 28 Aug 08
BBC Mon AF1 AFEau 280808 to/job
BBC Monitoring. Copyright BBC.
KEYWORD: UGANDA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HEALTH
DOMESTIC
POLITICAL
