Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 12, 2001
Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu was reported as saying that he "would rather have the programme right and the deadline wrong, than vice versa," although he admitted that the generic drugs have not yet been received and the medication administration and tracking system has not been completely developed. The country's US $4 million programme will only provide drugs to 10,000 adults and 5,000 children, a "tiny fraction" of those infected. Indian generic drug maker Cipla has contracted with Nigeria to sell a three-drug combination for US $350 per year per patient. Participants will pay US $120, with the government subsidising the remaining cost.
Ranbaxy Laboratories, another India-based drug firm, is also being considered to supply drugs to the programme. Officials face several challenges in administering the programme, including fraudulent HIV claims from the nation's "notorious crime rings" that are trying to pose as patients to obtain the drugs and resell them on the black market, and NGOs representing people with HIV/AIDS who are "aggressively lobbying" the government to distribute the drugs through their organisations.
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