Vital AIDS drugs see disruption in supply along with substandard drugs entering the system: PLHIV

The Health Ministry has responded to the on-going protest and said that there is no stock out of drugs

Adult People Living with HIV (PLHIV) being offered paediatric formulations, rationing doses, making PLHIVs come back very few days for more supply, arbitrary change in regimen, to a complete deprivation of life-saving paediatric HIV drugs for children living with HIV are pushing PLHIV towards treatment interruption, drug-resistance, and an imminent death due to AIDS, say protestors who have been camping outside National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) office in the Capital for over half a month now.

NACO, functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is a nodal agency responsible for overlooking and coordinating activities of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).

Protesters noted that NACO in its public communication had claimed that 95% of PLHIVs have not faced any shortages. “But by its own admission, 5% of 14.5 lakh, i.e., 72,500 people, are affected by the current shortage and stockouts. The impact of the shortage on PLHIVs is severe and far-reaching,’’ they say.

According to the protesters, in December 2021, PLHIV networks across the country started witnessing shortage of certain Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centres.

Anticipating a large-scale shortage, the PLHIV network started reaching out to the authorities with numerous letters and emails, including an urgent representation to the Secretary, Health, and NACO on February 16, 2022, raising concerns and requesting prompt action to address them.

“A fresh tender for procurement was floated in March 2022 but the new tender, and contracts were not awarded in time to ensure the resumption of supply, leading to a stockout of HIV drugs such as Dolutegravir 50 mg, Lopinavir/Ritonavir (adult and child doses), and Abacavir in the States of Assam, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, etc.,” said the protestors.

They added that NACO, in its communication dated May 30, 2022 sent to all State AIDS Control Societies, requested a change in existing treatment regimens for PLHIV as an interim measure to deal with the countywide stockout. But it was done without ensuring -- whether a client has suppressed viral load or not, if any other regimen before the current regimen – i.e., what previous Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI) or Protease inhibitors (PI) was used or providing treatment counselling.