Kenya: Ensure supply of ARVs

[Guest guest]

Ensure supply of ARVs

Posted Tuesday, May 24 2011 at 17:22

The National Aids Control Council has given an assurance that the country has

adequate stocks of anti-retroviral drugs, seeking to allay fears that users were

at risk due to diminishing supplies.

While the assurance is appreciated, it is hoped that it is genuine and not a

mere public relations stunt that many State organs are wont to stage when faced

with questions about service delivery.

ARVs, the wonder drugs, have made a dramatic turn in the fight against HIV/Aids.

This year's Economic Survey that was released last week, for example,

demonstrates that the use of ARVs had prolonged by more than 10 years, the lives

of those infected.

Given such a positive impact, any indication that supplies may be running out,

as recently pointed out by civil society organisations, are a real cause for

concern.

There is also concern that many people living with HIV lack access to ARVs.

With about 1.5 million adults infected and just a third getting the drug, the

challenge is still enormous.

Moving forward, the government must live up to its promise to sustain supply to

users while expanding access to the thousands who are still missing out.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Ensure+supply+of+ARVs+/-/440804/1168660/-\

/ns5s42/-/index.html

[Guest guest]

Ensure supply of ARVs

Posted Tuesday, May 24 2011 at 17:22

The National Aids Control Council has given an assurance that the country has

adequate stocks of anti-retroviral drugs, seeking to allay fears that users were

at risk due to diminishing supplies.

While the assurance is appreciated, it is hoped that it is genuine and not a

mere public relations stunt that many State organs are wont to stage when faced

with questions about service delivery.

ARVs, the wonder drugs, have made a dramatic turn in the fight against HIV/Aids.

This year's Economic Survey that was released last week, for example,

demonstrates that the use of ARVs had prolonged by more than 10 years, the lives

of those infected.

Given such a positive impact, any indication that supplies may be running out,

as recently pointed out by civil society organisations, are a real cause for

concern.

There is also concern that many people living with HIV lack access to ARVs.

With about 1.5 million adults infected and just a third getting the drug, the

challenge is still enormous.

Moving forward, the government must live up to its promise to sustain supply to

users while expanding access to the thousands who are still missing out.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Ensure+supply+of+ARVs+/-/440804/1168660/-\

/ns5s42/-/index.html