Panafrican News Agency - December 2, 2001
Peter Kahler, PANA Correspondent
Prior to the import of the drugs, anti-retroviral drugs available in the country were donations from philanthropist groups and individuals concerned about the plight of sufferers of the scourge, and were not put on shelves for sale.
The new drugs, put on display in Monrovia since 28 November, include Lamiviroral solution, Indivan, Zidovudine, Triomune, Nevimune, Lamivir and Doorvir, all products of India.
Apresh Sharma, manager of Abeer Pharmaceuticals, told government officials at the launch of the anti-HIV/AIDS drugs in Liberia that the medicines were among those currently in use globally.
He said two companies, Cipla and Dabur India, manufactured the drugs. Sharma did not say the approximate over-the-counter price of the drugs, but assured the pricing of the drugs would be affordable.
Liberian commerce minister, Cora Peabody, said the arrival of the drugs in Liberia was "a success story" given the war that is been waged against the pandemic in Liberia and the world at large.
Peabody spoke of some legal hurdles the company faced in bringing the products on the Liberian market and urged the problem be cleared in order to benefit from the protection of the ministry.
Assistant health minister Mnah Bropleh described the arrival of the anti-HIV/AIDS drugs in Liberia as "good news," but insisted that "what matters most is affordability and availability".
Bropleh called on the importer to cooperate with other pharmaceutical outlets to ensure availability of the drugs at more than one source in the country.
Physician Mohammed Sheriff, chief medical officer at the country's largest referral hospital, said he was "encouraged by the sample" exhibited at the launch, and nudged the importers to maintain quality of the drugs.
A film detailing the manufacture and usage of the drugs was shown at the launch.
Health authorities here have spoken regularly about the increase in the spread of the HIV/AIDS disease in the country, judging mainly from deaths by the disease and hospital records on the number of infected persons.
They want a national seropositive survey to determine the actual rate of prevalence of the pandemic in Liberia, although health authorities estimate the prevalence rate at 8.2 percent of the country's nearly three million population.
Statistics show that carriers of the virus that causes AIDS are mainly between the ages of 15 and 25, with females accounting for the majority of the victims.
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