Daunting challenge for AIDS drug rollout

After getting the long awaited go-ahead from cabinet to start a national antiretoviral (ARV) programme, South Africa's health department is now faced with the daunting challenge of drawing up a strategy for distributing the anti-AIDS drugs to the millions of people who need them. Senior health department officials met on Monday to discuss a rollout plan of ARV drugs to public hospitals, health department spokesman Sibani Mngadi told PlusNews. This meeting followed last week's instruction by the cabinet to the department to urgently develop an operational plan for a national treatment programme by 30 September 2003. "The department is working on a detailed operational plan, and one of the things we will be looking at is procurement [of ARVs]," Mngadi said. A joint health department and treasury task team called for the establishment of a "strong" national price negotiating team and strategy to obtain the drugs at the best possible prices. The task team also recommended encouraging the granting of voluntary licences by patent holders for local manufacture. Local pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare last week launched the drug, Aspen-Stavudine, its generic version of Zerit, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, saying it would be immediately available to any HIV-positive citizens who need it. Stavudine is one of the key drugs used in a triple therapy cocktail The company was granted voluntary licences by Bristol-Myers Squibb to produce generic versions of the drug in South Africa. Under the terms of the agreement, Aspen Pharmacare can sell its version of the drug to both public and private patients across Africa. According to group chief operating officer Linda Philip, the government would possibly put out tenders for the supply of the drugs. "But hopefully they will also pay attention to the local manufacture of the drugs as a way of building capacity in the [pharmaceutical] industry," Philip told PlusNews. It was, however, too early to determine from where the drugs would be sourced, she noted. "The government is certainly aware of our capability and capacity. Hopefully this will provide an opportunity for South Africa to look towards home-based solutions," she added.