News / Health
Global Fund to withdraw ARV drug support by 2013
05 Mar 2012 at 10:13hrs | Views
HIV patients in Zimbabwe could be in for major health nightmares after a senior health official disclosed that the Global Fund would withdraw its ARV drug support in 2013, however Marcela Rojo Media Officer of the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said the Global Fund currently funds over 50% of the people on ARVs in Zimbabwe and this commitment runs from January 2012 to December 2014.
Seventy six percent of 347 172 HIV positive people on ARV treatment risk not getting the life prolonging drug.
Matabeleland North acting medical director Nyasha Masuka told inmates at Khami Prison that most people are depended on donor drugs.
"With Global Fund pulling out this would affect government efforts to combat the disease.
"Most of the HIV patients are surviving on donor funded drugs. We need to start planning for life after Global Fund pull out," said Masuka.
A recent United Nations reports said Zimbabwe remains among countries with high prevalence of HIV infections.
In a report released by the United Nations titled Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Frame Work 2012-2015, Zimbabwe was said to have the highest rates of premature adult mortality.
"Globally, Zimbabwe remains among the countries with high HIV infection rates; it carries the third largest HIV burden in Southern Africa and has one of the highest rates of premature adult mortality, largely due to HIV related illness.
"Latest estimates place the adult HIV prevalence at 14.26 percent, which brings the estimated number of people living with HIV to 1.2 million, including 150,000 children under 15. It is further estimated that 62 percent of adults living with HIV in Zimbabwe are female," said the report.
The report said HIV infections in Zimbabwe were largely as a result of sexual contact while cases of parent mother to child transmission were low.
"Zimbabwe's epidemic is generalised, with the virus spreading primarily through sexual contact (causes annually about 75 percent of new infections) and mother-to-child transmission (causes up to 25 percent of new infections annually)," said the report.
Seventy six percent of 347 172 HIV positive people on ARV treatment risk not getting the life prolonging drug.
Matabeleland North acting medical director Nyasha Masuka told inmates at Khami Prison that most people are depended on donor drugs.
"With Global Fund pulling out this would affect government efforts to combat the disease.
"Most of the HIV patients are surviving on donor funded drugs. We need to start planning for life after Global Fund pull out," said Masuka.
In a report released by the United Nations titled Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Frame Work 2012-2015, Zimbabwe was said to have the highest rates of premature adult mortality.
"Globally, Zimbabwe remains among the countries with high HIV infection rates; it carries the third largest HIV burden in Southern Africa and has one of the highest rates of premature adult mortality, largely due to HIV related illness.
"Latest estimates place the adult HIV prevalence at 14.26 percent, which brings the estimated number of people living with HIV to 1.2 million, including 150,000 children under 15. It is further estimated that 62 percent of adults living with HIV in Zimbabwe are female," said the report.
The report said HIV infections in Zimbabwe were largely as a result of sexual contact while cases of parent mother to child transmission were low.
"Zimbabwe's epidemic is generalised, with the virus spreading primarily through sexual contact (causes annually about 75 percent of new infections) and mother-to-child transmission (causes up to 25 percent of new infections annually)," said the report.
Source - Byo24News
