Mazabuka health board suspends 3 over pilfered ARVs
By Henry Chibulu in Mazabuka
Fri 30 Dec. 2011, 13:35 CAT
THE Mazabuka Health Management board has suspended two pharmacy technologists and a classified daily employee at the district hospital over the theft of 200 bottles of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARVs).
The drugs were allegedly sold to some Zimbabwean nationals last week. Some Zimbabwean nationals living positively are reportedly buying ARVs in Zambia from some state-run health institutions.
District Pharmacist Alfred Sichali said the suspension was meant to facilitate investigations.
Sichali said a forensic audit revealed rife theft of ARVs at the health institution.
He said some members of staff had been stealing ARVs, particularly ALLUVIR, a drug which was being sold at between K450,000 and K550,000 per bottle.
He said the district health management team surrendered the suspects to Mazabuka police in order to teach other pharmacists a lesson that stealing drugs meant to prolong people's lives was wrong.
Sichali also revealed that police had on many occasions caught one of the suspects with ARVs but that no arrest was made.
Police have opened a docket against the three suspects who have been operating from Mazabuka district hospital and Kaonga clinic.
Police sources said the three were interviewed and statements recorded from them.
Mazabuka district HIV/AIDs taskforce chairperson Bernard Uteka urged the police to arrest the culprits.
Uteka, who condemned the theft as devilish, urged the Ministry of Health to put in place watertight measures to stop pilfering of ARVs in the district.
Labels: ARVs, MAZABUKA DISTRICT
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COMMENT - 'Odd' that all this 'help' includes population control.
Food security is key to growth, says Storella
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Tue 08 Feb. 2011, 04:01 CAT
FOOD security is key to economic growth and poverty reduction, says the United States envoy.
During the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps and the education trainees ring-in ceremony on Sunday, Ambassador Mark Storella said all volunteers in Zambia were also trained to promote food security in their communities. Ambassador Storella also said prevention of HIV and AIDS was not an easy task but was an essential one.
He said the United States government generously supports Zambia’s efforts to reduce the transmission of HIV, eliminate stigma confronting people living with HIV and AIDS and providing quality treatment services and life prolonging antiretroviral drugs for those who need such drugs.
Ambassador Storella said no matter what the volunteers’ primary assignment, all Peace Corps were trained to engage their communities on programmes to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS.
And education deputy minister Boniface Kawimbe said ARVs would still have been out of reach of many people if the donors had not supported Zambia in the antiretroviral treatment.
Kawimbe said the volunteers would serve in six provinces to address local education issues, with a special focus on educating girls.
“We know that when you educate a girl you release a dynamo that will have tremendous impact on poverty reduction. We know that an educated girl adopts household sanitary practices that benefit the whole family. We know that an educated girl gets married later in life and has fewer children. And an educated girl becomes an educated mother who is committed to educating her children,” said Kawimbe.
And Peace Corps country director Tom Kennedy said the mission of the Peace Corps was to promote world peace and friendship.
“This mission is as important today as it was when Peace Corps was founded 50 years ago,” said Kennedy.
Labels: ARVs, FOOD, MARK STORELLA, POPULATION CONTROL
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NGOCC urges investigation of Global Funds misuse
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Tue 04 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
A CIVIC organisation says there is need for law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the misuse of Global Funds and ensure that culprits are prosecuted.
Reviewing the year 2010, NGOCC board chairperson Beatrice Grillo said a strong message needed to be sent to those few individuals who had put lives of thousands of antiretroviral drugs beneficiaries at risk by misappropriating funds.
Grillo said another area of concern that affected the country was the reported shortage of ARVs in most health centres throughout the country.
“We understand that this could have been due to the withholding of support to the health sector by donors and as a result of the misuse of Global Funds by the Ministry of Health and, some of its partner organisations,” she said.
Grillo also said even the government’s contracting of a US $53 billion loan for the purpose of providing mobile health services was a misplaced priority because the mobile health facilities would not be able to reach many rural areas due to the poor road network in Zambia.
On corruption, Grillo said the removal of the abuse of office offence clause in the new anti corruption bill was tantamount to legalising corruption and abuse of office by public servants including politicians.
She said the fight against corruption must be intensified to rebuild accountability and restore donor confidence and make resources available for the intended purposes.
“This goes without saying that similarly all those involved in the misappropriation of donor resources must be held to account and must be made to face the law without favour,” she said.
She said there were serious financial irregularities in the use of funds for the road sector where huge amounts were misapplied forcing donors to suspending their funding to the sector.
“The current state of our roads in Zambia is such that our farmers (most of who are women) find it extremely difficult to access market for their produce and to obtain farm inputs, reach health centres. Therefore any withdrawal of funds to the road sector has greater impact on our women and children,” she said.
Grillo said the completion of the work of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and its subsequent draft report remained uninspiring to the majority of citizens.
She said it was now apparent that the 2011 general elections would be held under the current Constitution, and therefore rendering the opportunity for more effective participation of women in electoral processes difficult once again.
On a positive front, Grillo said the government presented the Anti Gender-Based Violence Bill before Parliament.
The Bill she said which among other things proposes the establishment of shelters and a fund to help victims of gender-based violence presented a window of hope in the fight against gender-based violence.
Labels: ARVs, CORRUPTION, HIV/AIDS, NGOCC
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Anti AIDS consultant calls for policy review on ARV accessibility
By Florence Bupe
Mon 20 Sep. 2010, 14:00 CAT
AN HIV/ AIDS advocacy and literacy consultant Paul Kasonkomona has appealed to government to review pharmaceutical sector policies to make Anti- Retroviral (ARV) drugs cheaper and more accessible.
Speaking to journalists during an HIV/ AIDS sensitization workshop organized by the Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), Kasonkomona said certain ARV regimens were
either unavailable or too expensive for most poor infected Zambians to access.
He explained that HIV/ AIDS activists had been pushing for the availability and affordability of the third line ARV treatment but government had remained unresponsive.
Kasonkomona, who is receiving the second line of ARV treatment, charged that limitations in the availability of the third line treatment were partly as a result of corruption in government institutions handling issues of medication.
“Some officials in government and the pharmaceutical industry have a tendency of protecting their own interests, resulting in treatment being expensive. Actions entered into by some of our officials overseas threaten Zambia’s access to medicines,” he said.
Kasonkomona further said imbalances in pharmaceutical trade had the potential to reverse the positive trends attained in making ARVs accessible to many Zambians.
“Trade imbalances, especially in the health sector, will result in the country suffering great losses. For instance, globalised patent rights which permit pharmaceutical companies to exclude lower, generic competitors and thus set profit maximizing monopoly prices will negatively affect the country’s service delivery in the health sector,” he said.
Approximately 150 people in Lusaka alone are in need of third line ARV treatment but only two people are known to be accessing the third line cocktail of drugs at a cost of US $1000 per month, a figure beyond the reach of many affected Zambians.
And TALC country coordinator Felix Mwanza said it was unacceptable for government to fail to avail the third line ARV treatment in the name of reducing expenses when lives were being lost.
He said there was need for government to attach more seriousness to HIV / AIDS related issues, and complained that government had decided to drop the independent HIV Chapter from the sixth national development plan (SNDP).
Labels: ARVs, FELIX MWANZA, HIV/AIDS, PAUL KASONKOMONA
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Govt decentralises ARV follow up
Herald Reporter
Government has decentralised follow-up treatment for people on anti retroviral drugs to ensure easy access.
HIV and TB Unit head in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Dr Owen Mugurungi said initiation of new patients on ART would remain within hospitals but clinics and other health centres would be capacitated to provide the drugs.
Speaking at a National HIV Partnership forum meeting yesterday Dr Mugurungi said Government took the initiative to spread the ART programme.
He said the move would also limit time spent by patients waiting to get their monthly doses.
"We have decentralised collection of monthly anti-retroviral drugs doses to make sure treatment is nearer to our patients. Patients who are now stable can thus access the drugs at centres close to them.
"As Government we are focusing on training our health workers on providing and monitoring patients on ART so that our patients can not only access the drugs but minimise transport costs and time spent queuing for the drugs," he said.
Dr Mugurungi said Government would strengthen mentorship of health workers to ensure quality retention during the programme.
He said the ministry had established 41 sites around Zimbabwe to monitor signs of drug resistance.
"As we decentralise we have put in place 41 sites that will act as early warning systems for drug resistance.
"They will specifically look for those who are being initiated on ARVs but are not returning to collect their monthly doses and areas were the drugs are always out of stock.
"This data will be used to come up with a mechanism that prevents possible cases of drug resistance," he said.
On the latest World Health Organisation guidelines for initiating patients on ARV, Dr Mugurungi said the implementation of the measure depended on the support of its partners.
Zimbabwe currently has more than 200 000 patients on ARVs and is targeting to put 250 000 on treatment before the end of 2011.
Labels: ARVs, HIV/AIDS
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Ministry of Health withdraws nerve-damaging AIDS drug
By Joseph Mwenda
Mon 07 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT
THE Ministry of Health has withdrawn a major AIDS drug, Stavudine, from the ARV therapy after discovering long-term irreversible side effects in HIV patients.
Announcing the new ARV therapy after two years of investigations and consultations, Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr Reuben Mbewe said a new drug called Tenofovir (TDF) had been immediately introduced to replace the 40 milligrams Stavudine.
“We started our investigations in 2007 and after consultations, we were the first developing country to immediately start phasing out the 40 milligram Stavudine and replacing it with Tenofovir because of its side effects which include wasting and nerve disorder,” he said.
“This is despite the extra cost needed to acquire the new drug because we realised that its benefits are of vital importance to the Zambian people.”
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report released last week, Stavudine causes nerve disorder leading to numbness and burning pain in the hands and feet, and loss of body fat, conditions that are disabling and disfiguring.
Dr Mbewe told The Post that Stavudine was the most commonly used drug among HIV patients in Zambia and that one out of four patients suffered side effects from it.
“From our investigations, it was found that one in four patients had these side effects from the use of 40 milligram Stavudine, but three quarters of them did not react to the 30 milligramme Stavudine,” said Dr Mbewe. “We are advising patients not to stop the therapy on their own, if they notice any strange side effects, let them go to the nearest health centres and get advice from medical experts. Patients who will notice side effects after taking the 30 milligrammes Stavudine should also seek medical advice.”
WHO recommended that countries progressively phase out the use of Stavudine as a preferred first-line therapy option and move to less toxic alternatives such as Tenofovir (TDF) or Zidovudine (AZT) which are equally effective alternatives.
In sweeping changes to its guidelines, WHO also recommended that people with HIV, including pregnant women, should start taking AIDS drugs earlier to live a longer and healthier life.
For the first time the organisation advised HIV-positive women and their babies to take the drugs while breast-feeding to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.
Labels: ARVs, HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS
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