Lack of life-saving HIV drug, Septrin, puts patients at risk, State cites supply hitches
What you need to know:
The drug has been out of stock for the last eight months.
The government says this is because of funding gaps and supply hitches.
Babies born of HIV positive mothers are at risk as they haven’t received the drug.
For many of us, Covid-19 is that invisible enemy that is scary. But for people with preexisting conditions, like those living with HIV/Aids, the coronavirus can be a daunting task, because the consequences of infection are dire.
What makes the situation even worse for people living with HIV/Aids (PLHIV), is that the immunity-boosting drug, Septrin, is out of stock in health facilities, and has been so for some time now.
Septrin is a vital antibiotic for PLHIV with a low CD4 count. The crucial drug is taken daily by many living with HIV/Aids to fight against opportunistic infections. Government health facilities provide the drug for free together with other antiretroviral drugs for those with a prescription, but for some months now, due to what the Health Ministry terms as, ‘procurement delays and funding glitches’, patients have been met with empty shelves.
The drug is available in private clinics and pharmacies at a cost of between Sh60 and 100 per tablet, which brings the monthly cost to between Sh1800-Sh3,000 per user, a cost that is out of reach for many, especially now during Covid-19 times when incomes have dwindled or cut altogether.
Exposed child
One of those affected is Ms. Elizabeth Atieno and her seven-year-old daughter, Awino. The Kisumu town resident has been living with HIV for 20 years now, all was well because they could easily access the drugs they needed from a nearby health facility. But, for the last four months getting Septrin which they both need for survival has not been possible.
Her daughter was prescribed Cotrimoxazole most commonly referred to as Septrin at six weeks and has been getting it for free at Kisumu County Referral Hospital. That was until April this year when Ms. Atieno was told that the drug was out of stock.
“They keep telling me that the drug will be available in the coming weeks, but it has become a song,” she says.
For three months, Ms. Atieno struggled to buy Septrin from the local pharmacy, in which she had to spend Sh120 daily, but after she fell sick, her income from her grocery business at the local market dried, and they had to make do without the drugs.
Her daughter’s immunity is now weak and she has been fighting one opportunistic infection after another. One time it was flu, then fever, and another time iarrhea.
“Anything that comes her way will bring her down, her immunity is very weak and I am afraid if nothing is done, even flu will kill my daughter and I am also at risk,” says the mother of six.
She continues: “One day in September, I knew she was dying, she was coughing blood and it would not stop. I am a worried mother,” Ms. Atieno says
Mother to child transmissions
Septrin is a combination of two antimicrobial drugs that are active against a range of bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections; prophylactic antimicrobials are taken to prevent infection. It decreases morbidity (illness) and mortality among HIV-infected individuals primarily by reducing the rates of malaria, pneumonia, iarrhea, and severe bacterial infections.
