Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - September 29, 2003
Participants at last week's International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Africa (ICASA), were optimistic that Africa would become the biggest consumer of ARVs.
The drugs suppress HIV and prolong the lives of AIDS patients although they do not cure AIDS.
The sense of optimism comes from two main developments. The prices of ARVs have continued to fall since the late 1990s, and more donor funding is becoming available.
In early 1998, ARVs cost sh1.8m per month, in Uganda. Today, the most commonly used ARV combination costs sh55,000 per patient per month. This dramatic reduction is the result of negotiations with the big pharmaceuticals as well as competition with Third World companies that hijacked the formulae and had begun producing the same drugs.
At the same time, donors are committing more monies to the treatment of AIDS patients. So far the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria has approved a total of $1.5b for 93 countries, including Uganda.
Parallel to this, President George Bush of the United States has promised $15b for AIDS in developing countries. The World Bank has also initiated the MAP programme, under which countries can access low-interest loans for AIDS control.
Uganda is one of the first beneficiaries.
Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a campaign to have at least 3m AIDS patients around the world, 2m of whom are expected to come from Africa, on ARV treatment by the year 2005. WHO says it is a shame that to date, only 50,000 Africans receive ARV treatment. "We have come a long way from a few years ago when provision of ARVs was considered not feasible in Africa," said Dr. Tsidi Moeti, WHO's regional HIV/AIDS advisor for Africa.
Although the target looks too ambitious, service providers agree that significant progress will be achieved in the coming years.
"I am optimistic that the number is going to go up," said Sowedi Muyingo, the head of Medical Access, a non-profit company set up to speed up the access to ARVs in Uganda.
Banking on these new developments, the Uganda Government has pledged ARVs for all Ugandan patients who will need them. According to the Ministry of Health estimates, out of over 1m people with HIV, 150,000 need immediate ARV treatment.
However, currently just over 10,000 can afford it.
By next year the Government hopes to have raised the money to treat all of them.
Major Rubaramira Ruranga, a person living with HIV, agreed that there is hope but cautioned against over-optimism.
"Nations should do more. There is no point in people continuing to die when ARV are there," he said.
However, experts caution that before people can receive the drugs facilities need to be widely availed for testing for HIV. Health workers also have to be trained and health units equipped with facilities to manage ARV treatment.
Even more important is the need to increase public awareness about ARVs.
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