Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - October 25, 2009
Dear Doctor,
I have been in the UK, where I was getting my ARVs for the last three years. I came back to Uganda recently and have been trying to access care here. My drugs were branded ARVs called Zidovudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine, When I visited one of the AIDS service organisations here, I was given a new tablet called Duovir-N made in India and told it was the same as what I have been taking. I am not convinced because someone told me the drugs from India are fake! Please, advise.
James
Dear James,
THE tablet, Duovir-N, is actually a fixed dose combination of the three drugs Zidovudine, Lamuvudine and Nevirapine which are made by different companies. What you have been taking are brands of the same drugs, meaning they are manufactured by the pharmaceutical companies that developed them and, therefore, own the patents.
What happens is that once these companies have recovered the money invested in developing these drugs, they are obliged, by law, to reveal their ingredients so that others can make copies of the drugs and make them widely available for use. It is these that are called generics such as Duovir- N.
The generics are not necessarily fake but are sold at a lower price, which is good for us in poor countries with large numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS.
The National Drug Authority is mandated to check all drugs imported for use in the country, to make sure they are not fake.
Write to health@newvision.co.ug
091025
NV091022
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