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Free anti-AIDS medication available in January

    JOHANNESBURG

    Nigeria is to start dispensing free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to people living with HIV/AIDS in January 2006, the government announced last week.

    With about 3.5 million HIV-positive people, Nigeria has the world's third-highest HIV/AIDS caseload after India and South Africa.

    Free distribution of the medication was "a Christmas present" to those living with the virus, the health ministry said in a statement.

    The Independent Online news service reported that the government would waive the monthly contribution of 1,000 naira (US $7.7) which patients on the national treatment programme usually pay.

    A recent study by the medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), found that the lack of free anti-AIDS medication in Nigeria was increasing the risk of treatment failure.

    Research among patients who had to pay for their treatment in Nigeria's economic capital, Lagos, revealed that 44 percent had multiple treatment interruptions or took insufficient dosages due to a lack of money.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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