Paying for HIV Drugs Endangers Treatment: MSF
Posted on: Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 09:00 CST
Paying for HIV drugs endangers treatment: MSF
ABUJA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF, Doctors Without Border) warned on Tuesday that forcing people to pay for HIV/AIDS care could lead to the failure of treatment.
The group said a new research of 122 patients in Nigeria's largest city Lagos revealed that 44 percent of those who paid for treatment had "multiple treatment interruptions" or took insufficient dosages due to lack of funds.
"The medical effects of this are extremely worrying," said the group's leading AIDS researcher in Nigeria James Wenkel in a statement issued at the ongoing 14th International Conference on HIV/ AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa in Nigeria' s capital Abuja. "These patients are more vulnerable to AIDS- related infections such as pneumonia of tuberculosis."
"So ... If we want people to survive on treatment, we have to ensure access to free care."
Nigeria, which has the world's third largest HIV positive population with an estimated 3.5 million sufferers, has asked patients to pay for at least part of their own AIDS care including drugs and monitoring.
"This is ludicrous. According to our survey, nearly 50 percent of these patients live on less than 36 US dollars per month, yet they are paying between 8 dollars and 67 dollars per month for a recommended package of care," said Wenkel.
According to the survey conducted between August and November 2005, to pay for their care, 39 percent of respondents reported borrowing or begging, while 18 percent said they had been forced to sell property.
MSF currently provides anti-retroviral treatment for over 57, 000 people living with HIV/AIDS in 29 countries. In Nigeria, MSF is treating more than 950 patients with the treatment in a comprehensive care clinic in Lagos.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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