Uganda govt set to import new ARV launched in Kenya
What you need to know:
The Kenyan government on Wednesday rolled out a plan to invest Kshs7.5b annually on a local plant that will make the antiretroviral drugs following the country’s partnership with Global Fund, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR).
Kampala. As Kenya launches a new effective Dolutegravir (DTG) anti-Aids drug, Uganda will starting importing the same drug mid this month, starting with those patients who are resistant to the already existing first line drugs.
The Kenyan government on Wednesday rolled out a plan to invest Kshs7.5b annually on a local plant that will make the antiretroviral drugs following the country’s partnership with Global Fund, and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR).
Dr Joshua Musinguzi, the Aids Control Programme manager at the Ministry of Health, told Sunday Monitor that they want to observe the drug’s effectiveness so that by the time pharmaceutical companies bring the fixed combination of the drug on market in 2018, they already have evidence-based data.
“At the moment, the drug is still a single combination pill which has to be taken together with another combination of Tenofavir and Lamivudine and we are trying to do away with multiple drugs because people do not want to take many tablets a day,” Dr Musinguzi said.
He, however, could not state whether government or other funders would bankroll the new drug and neither could he state how much it would cost. Kenya’s programme, Dr Musinguzi said, is the same arrangement under which Uganda and several other African countries are partnering with the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Unitaid, an International drug purchasing facility, to introduce the drug under the brand name Tivicay.
GlaxoSmithKline through ViiV Health care currently manufactures the drug.
Ms Stella Kentusi, the executive director of National Forum of People Living with HIV & Aids Networks in Uganda, a community-based organisation that supports people living with HIV/Aids, said they have been advocating for the same drug to be introduced in Uganda since it has lesser side effects.
“DTG comes as a much better version with the same efficacy and less side effects,” Ms Kentusi said, adding that she hopes government makes it available as early as possible as opposed to next year. She said the latest drug reduces the burden of swallowing multiple pills. (NMG)
