THE Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has blamed the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the shortage of second line anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment drugs which the ministry says are four months behind delivery schedule at government institutions.
REPORT BY WONAI MASVINGISE
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights symposium on HIV and Aids, human rights and the law in Harare yesterday, the principal director for Aids and TB programmes in the Health ministry, Owen Mugurungi, said the shortage of the drug, Bacavir, in health institutions was worrying.
Bacavir is a second line treatment ARV drug.
The country has been facing acute shortages of the drug since May, Mugurungi said.
“The shortage of Bacavir certainly is a worrying thing. It is worrying because UNDP had promised to deliver these drugs in May, but we are now four months past May,” Mugurungi said.
“This is not about blaming each other, but about admitting when we are wrong. We don’t expect that to happen. It would be more acceptable to agree, but to have drugs delayed for four months is totally unacceptable. Where we are found wanting, let’s accept the blame.”
Acting executive director for the Zimbabwe National Network for People Living with HIV Spencer Gundu said some public health institutions were referring patients in need of drugs to private hospitals due to the shortages.
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“At Harare Central Hospital, people living with HIV who are on second line drugs were being advised to purchase the drugs at private pharmacies, or to check with other hospitals. We actually have the evidence in the form of health cards,” Gundu said.
An official at the UNDP yesterday promised to issue a statement on the matter today.
Zimbabwe last year switched to Tenofovier, a new ARV regimen, following guidelines released by the World Health Organisation.
The new drug is said to have lesser side effects compared to Stalanev which the government had been prescribing to all HIV patients.
An estimated 200 people die from Aids daily in Zimbabwe.
New UNAIDS country co-ordinator in Zimbabwe Michael Bartos, who arrived in the country a fortnight ago, also attended the symposium.
