Lack of HIV drugs forces Uganda to limit treatment

By Halima Athumani

KAMPALA, Uganda

A shortage of antiretroviral drugs in Uganda has forced health authorities to deny treatment to groups considered to be in less danger, a senior official said Tuesday.

Dr. Asuman Lukwago, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, said the lack of drugs was compounded by an increasing number of patients.

“The ministry has come up with a policy, which we call option B, where we need to treat key populations that are drivers of HIV,” he said. These include HIV positive pregnant women, adolescents, sex workers and gay men.

“We have noted that when we treat someone and their viral load goes below the detection rate, their chances of transmission become minimal so our aim is to treat those key populations,” Lukwago said.

The ministry has also raised the threshold at which it will treat patients with antiretroviral drugs.

Of 1.4 million Ugandans who are HIV positive, only 820,000 are receiving HIV treatment. Around 240,000 of these patients are publicly-funded and have been forced to take lower dosages or none at all.

Asia Russell, the Uganda-based executive director of Health GAP, an HIV advocacy group, condemned the government’s new policy.

“It’s extremely concerning and it’s not supported by science,” she told Anadolu Agency. “Everyone needs that support treatment. The proposal to provide HIV treatment to a subset of patients is absurd.”

In November, Health Minister Elioda Tumwesigye requested additional funding to procure emergency drugs to fill a critical gap in treatment.

The government failed to raise money and applied for a $200 million loan from the Eastern and Southern African Trade Development Bank. More than half was to pay for HIV drugs but Uganda’s parliament did not approve the loan.