Anthony Bugembe
27 August 2008
Kampala — 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 that the 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 (sh3b) 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% 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 antiretroviral therapy, the medication that suppresses HIV to the extent that it can not be detected in blood, first became available in Uganda in 1998.
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