Purchase ARVs locally ...pharmaceutical producers tell Gov’t

 

Government must purchase anti-retroviral drugs from qualified local producers in the face drying-up of the main external source of funds for buying the crucial medication used by HIV patients, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Ghana (PMAG) has said.

“The money for purchasing ARVs is normally not Government of Ghana money; it’s from the Global Fund. The Fund has its own recommended suppliers, so the Ministry of Health cannot bypass them and buy locally. With the Fund not available now, Government should purchase the drugs locally,” Kwabena Asante, PMAG’s General Secretary told the B&FT.

His comments come on the heels of an Auditor-General’s Report on the management and distribution of ARVs in the country, which recommended the purchase of the drugs from qualified local producer DANADAMS.

The report also raised concerns about an impending shortage of ARVs due to delays in the delivery of the drugs by external suppliers, and the misappropriation of about GH¢600,000 collected from patients between 2005-2009 by HIV treatment centres in the country.
 
“Local producers can meet the demand. DANADAMS is currently expanding their facility. They have supplied anti-retrovirals to neighbouring countries like Benin and Sierra Leone before.  So they have the capacity to supply ARVs to persons living with HIV in Ghana,” he said.

The National Aids Control Programme (NACP), the body responsible for keeping HIV in check,  failed to secure the US$1billion financial support it sought from the Global Fund to procure ARVs from 2012-2015. This means Government must now shoulder the financial burden for the purchase of the drugs.

The Global Fund hitherto provided 90 percent of the funding for the purchase of anti-retroviral drugs, while the Government of Ghana’s contribution has mainly been in the form of capacity-building for health professionals involved in the treatment of HIV patients.

By Dominick ANDOH

 

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