Provinces wanting to put more children on to the government’s programme of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) should first make sure that they have adequate and sustainable supplies of the drugs, the Department of Health said on Tuesday.
Responding to a newspaper report that no more children will be put on ARVs, a statement said that no section of the government’s Comprehensive Plan for Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and Aids has been suspended.
The government has made resources available for the procurement of ARVs, ahead of a tender process, but the availability of the drugs, particularly the paediatric versions, is limited in the country because most of the active ingredients are procured from India.
”The national Department of Health has therefore advised provinces to ensure that they have adequate and sustainable supplies of drugs before they increase the number of children currently on treatment.”
The medication is a lifelong treatment and interruptions could lead to the development of resistance.
More than 40 drug companies and suppliers have expressed interest in supplying ARV drugs for the programme and 10 have been short-listed.
Five are research-based and five are generic companies.
The department is currently negotiating supplies and prices.
However, the opposition Democratic Alliance said the problem lies ”solely at the doorstep” of the department because it waited ”until the very last minute” before starting the roll-out programme.
”It is disingenuous for the department to point fingers at the pharmaceutical industry for delays when the department delayed the issuing of the tenders for the procurement of ARVs.”
The party said that six weeks are needed to import the raw materials for the ARVs and its research has shown that pharmaceutical companies have more than the required capacity.
”…If the department neglects to order the required volumes of drugs timeously from the companies, how can the companies be expected to guess how many drugs are to be delivered and at what required time?
”The fact that children — the most vulnerable section of our society — are now being denied life-saving ARVs is a direct consequence of the government’s inability to tackle HIV/Aids head-on years ago and to instead flirt with Aids dissidents,” said a statement attributed to Mike Waters, the party’s spokesperson on HIV/Aids. — Sapa
Health dept won’t suspend ARVs