Uganda says has enough HIV/AIDS life saving drug

KAMPALA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's ministry of health has said it now has adequate stock of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs lasting over four months.

Henry Mwebesa, acting Director General of Health Services (DGHS) at the ministry said in a statement issued late on Monday that in September the quantity of second line and some pediatric ARV's formulations for the public sector, fell below the acceptable buffer stock of four months. This caused a delay in the delivery of some ARV orders.

"As a result of this, we had to rationalize drug usage in the health facilities. This meant that instead of prescribing the normal two months of drug refills, health workers reduced the refill period to one month," said Mwebesa.

Mwebesa said there are now right quantities of ARV drug formulations for HIV patients to continue their treatment without any interruptions.

"The ministry of health would like to inform the public that contrary to the information that has been making rounds in the press and some public fora, the country has adequate stocks of antiretroviral drugs to manage all the patients on treatment in Uganda," said Mwebesa.

"NMS (National Medical Stores) is in the process of distributing these commodities with prioritization of the districts and health facilities that were most affected by the rationalization," Mwebesa added.

Civil society organizations and HIV advocates on World's AIDS Day which falls on Dec. 1 expressed concern over alleged shortage of ARVs in the country for months.

At least over 900,000 out of an estimated 1.4 million HIV infected persons in Uganda are on life saving anti-retroviral drugs, according to ministry of health statistics. Enditem