ARVs factory to resume production
A file photo showing different types of drugs used to mitigate the effects of HIV. PHOTO | file
Arusha/Dar es Salaam. A pharmaceutical factory based in Arusha will resume production of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs by the end of this month.
The drugs are used to treat infections caused by retroviruses behind HIV infection.
The Arusha-based Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industries (TPI) has already pumped in Sh99 billion to modernise the plant for the task, according to its CEO, Mr Ramadhani Madabida.
He told reporters in the northern city late last week that the plant would produce about 500,000 drugs each month.
He said production of ARVs would save the country of Sh806 billion it spends each year to import the drugs. According to him, modernisation and subsequent expansion of the plant has been made possible with the support from the European Union (EU).
He could not say whether TPI got a loan or a grant from the EU for the purpose. When fully operational, the plant would employ about 200 people. News that the plant would resume the production of ARVs first became public in May this year in Kigali, Rwanda during the East African Manufacturing Business Summit. Mr Madabida, who revealed then that the government through the Health ministry has granted TPI a go ahead to produce the drugs used in the management of HIV/Aids. (The Citizen Reporters)
