[697] THE USE OF GENERIC COPIES OF ARVs IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HIV INFECTIONS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA: A 6 MONTH FOLLOW-UP STUDY

2nd International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment

Paris, France - July 13 - 16, 2003

[TITLE:] THE USE OF GENERIC COPIES OF ARVs IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HIV INFECTIONS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA: A 6 MONTH FOLLOW-UP STUDY

[AUTHOR(S):] EO Idigbe, TA Adewole, NN Odunukwe, DI Onwujekwe, RA Audu, ID Araoyinbo, PM Ezeobi, TA Gbaja-Biamila, OB Salu, AZ Musa and E Nathan
Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria

IAS Conf HIV Pathog Treat 2003 Jul 13-16;2nd: Abstract No. 697
Antiviral Therapy 2003; 8(Suppl. 1):S377

[ABSTRACT:] Objective: To study the feasibility, efficacy, adherence and adverse reactions of generic copies of stavudine+lamivudine +nevirapine in the management of HIV infected patients in Lagos, Nigeria.

Methods: Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 226 HIV infected, ARV naïve subjects who registered at the Clinical Research Centre of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Lagos, for National ART programme. Treatment was with oral Nevirapine (Nevimal® Cipla) 200mg daily for the first 2 weeks and subsequently twice daily, lamivudine (Lamival®, Cipla) 150 mg twice daily and stavudine (Stavir®, Cipla) 40 mg twice daily. Plasma HIV-1 RNA, CD4 cell counts and other clinical parameters were determined at baseline and every three months. Data generated were collated and analysed by the EPI-Info version 6.04.

Results: Cumulative data indicated that between baseline and week 24 log copies of viral load decreaed from 4.7 log₁₀ RNA copies/ml to 2.7 log₁₀ RNA copies/ml, the median CD4 cell counts increased by 170×10⁶ cells/l, the Karnofsky's score above 90 increased from 71.3% to 95%, the median body mass index increased from 21.5 kg/m² to 23.8 kg/m². There was a remarkable reduction in frequency of opportunistic infections from 52% to 6.3% and adherence was good in 74% of the patients. The decrease in viral load and increase in CD4 cell counts between baseline and week 24 were significant (P<0.005).

Conclusion: The clinical and biological end points recorded in this study indicated efficacy in the combination regimen and were similar to results of cohorts treated with branded ARVs in developed countries. The overall data highlight the use of Generic ARVs as a feasible option in resource poor countries.

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