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HIV/Aids drugs run out in Nigeria
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2004-01-22

A government programme in Nigeria to provide anti-retrovirals, the drugs which help people infected with HIV/Aids, has run out of supplies. At least 12,000 people have been receiving the drugs from clinics at about a tenth of market value for more than a year. Supplies have been running low since October and some of the drugs which have been handed out since then are past their expiry date. Doctor Pat Matemilola, coordinator of the network of people living with Aids in Nigeria, told the BBC many people had gone to the clinics to pick up their drugs supply, only to find none in stock. He said he was concerned that a break in supply could promote drug resistance. The problem appears to be caused by poor management and bureaucracy. The director of the National Aids and STD Control Programme, Doctor Nasir Sanni Gwarzo, told the BBC that centres had taken in too many patients and the government had delayed releasing funds. But he said the money had now been dispersed and he was confident drugs would be available within a week. Nigeria has been slow to face up to the HIV/Aids epidemic and the subsidised anti-retroviral programme is the government's most prominent attempt so far to deal with the problem. (Source: Anna Borzello, BBC news)

A government programme in Nigeria to provide anti-retrovirals, the drugs which help people infected with HIV/Aids, has run out of supplies. At least 12,000 people have been receiving the drugs from clinics at about a tenth of market value for more than a year. 

At least 3.5 million Nigerians have contracted the virus, but experts warn this could more than double in 10 years if aggressive action is not taken. 

Supplies have been running low since October and some of the drugs which have been handed out since then are past their expiry date. 

Bureaucracy 

Doctor Pat Matemilola, coordinator of the network of people living with Aids in Nigeria, told the BBC many people had gone to the clinics to pick up their drugs supply, only to find none in stock. He said he was concerned that a break in supply could promote drug resistance. 

The problem appears to be caused by poor management and bureaucracy. 

The director of the National Aids and STD Control Programme, Doctor Nasir Sanni Gwarzo, told the BBC that centres had taken in too many patients and the government had delayed releasing funds. But he said the money had now been dispersed and he was confident drugs would be available within a week. Nigeria has been slow to face up to the HIV/Aids epidemic and the subsidised anti-retroviral programme is the government's most prominent attempt so far to deal with the problem. (Source: Anna Borzello, BBC news) 

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