Wednesday 19 June, 2013 - 10:40
Thousands of Aids-infected babies in Eastern Cape face a high risk of death because a vital antiretroviral drug is out of stock, according to a report by Rural Health Advocacy Project, Doctors Without Borders, the Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27.
The report notes that the Mthatha depot does not have any supplies of Lopinavir-Ritonavir, a drug taken orally, which is an essential part of first-line antiretroviral therapy for infants.
More than 100 000 patients depend on supplies of antiretroviral therapy from the Mthatha depot and according to the 24-page report, ‘The Chronic Crisis’, essential drug stock-outs risk unnecessary death and drug resistance in South Africa.
To read the article titled, “ARV shortage puts babies at risk,” click here.
