[Ip-health] Kenya Negotiating Importation of Cheap Aids Drugs

[James Love]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Kenya Negotiating Importation of Cheap Aids Drugs
Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 01:45:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Sharonann Lynch <salynch00@earthlink.net>

Kenya Govt Negotiating Importation of Cheap Aids Drugs

November 9, 2001
Victor Bwire And Samuel Otieno

http://allafrica.com/stories/200111090055.html

The Ministry of Health is negotiating the importation of cheap 
generic Aids drugs from Pakistan, Minister for Public Health, Mr 
Maalim Mohammed, has said.

The minister said Kenyans were dying in large numbers from the 
disease because of poverty, forcing his ministry to lead discussions 
with various companies to let in Aids drugs at reasonable costs to 
save the situation.

He said all efforts were being made to encourage pharmaceutical 
companies to reduce prices of anti-retrovirals and announced his 
ministry's commitment to negotiating and facilitating the 
availability of affordable drugs.

Addressing a delegation of pharmaceutical managers from Pakistan who 
had paid him a courtesy call at Afya House yesterday, the minister 
said with a population of 30 million, the country was in desperate 
need for cheaper drugs.

Meanwhile, Kenya will soon have to change to more effective malaria 
treatment methods following increased resistance to Sulphadoxine 
Purimethamine (SP) that had earlier been touted as the best 
alternative to the failed Chloroquine.

The decision by the Government to formulate a policy that advocated 
the use of SP monotherapy as opposed to the widely used combinational 
therapy goes against the basic principals of the "Roll Back Malaria" 
resolutions.

Malaria experts at the East African Network for Monitoring 
Anti-Malaria Treatment have blamed the Government for the slow 
response in changing the malaria policy like other countries which 
had opted for the effective combinational therapy.

"Evidence from Busia, Kirinyaga and Kisumu indicate that SP 
resistance is beyond the 'action' level of 25% thereby proving that 
SP resistance in Kenya has emerged faster than the cases was with 
Chloroquin resistance" the experts said.

This view is supported by a senior Malaria researcher at the 
Institute of Primate Research, Mr. Janeby Maamum who said the malaria 
parasites had become increasingly resistant to first-time medications 
hence the need for the combination therapy.

"As earlier feared, Kenya may have to undergo another expensive 
policy change to accommodate this eventuality. Researches the world 
over have shown that addition of the drug Artemether to the standard 
malaria treatment of SP/pyrimethamine can increase the efficacy and 
protection against drug resistance," Maamun said.

The researcher said there were significant gains in parasite 
clearance and overall cure rates when artesunate was given in 
combination with first-time drugs.

"A blister package containing one dose of Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine 
and three doses of artesunate provide the needed high quality, 
affordable, effective and safe treatment for malaria," he advised.