Patient rues lack of anti-retroviral meds for people living with HIV

Persons living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are having some difficulty getting their hands on the anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs they need to boost their immune system.

According to a report by GMA News' Ivan Mayrina on “24 Oras” on Monday, HIV patient "Ellie" said that these days they might receive two or three tablets, and sometimes even expired medicines—a far cry from the not-so-distant past when each HIV patient could receive three months' worth of ARV medicines from the government.

“'Yung gamot na iniinom namin, 'yun po 'yung nagbibigay proteksyon sa amin...para lumakas 'yung aming immune system. Pinaka worst na nangyari, tatlong tableta po 'yung naibigay. Minsan pa nga po dalawa [lang] pag walang-wala na talaga, at kung mamalas-malasin po, ang ibibigay po sa inyo yung mga expired ng gamot,” Ellie said.

“Nangyayari po ito,” he added.

The Department of Health defines HIV as a progressive viral infection that attacks and slowly destroys the immune system of the infected person and may “lead to lack of body defense to all kinds of infection including those that don’t normally infect man and can also lead to cancer susceptibility.”

AIDS, on the other hand, is defined as the appearance of the clinical manifestation of HIV infection, and a person with AIDS is susceptible to a “opportunistic infections of unlimited extents and possibilities and an atypical presentation and severity.”

HIV patients can only secure ARV medicines from the Department of Health (DOH) and should be registered in a treatment center so that they could receive them for free.

Health Undersecretary Enrico Domingo said that the supply of ARV medicines should soon normalize, now that their procurement problems are over.

“Nagka-procurement problems tayo nitong 2018 kaya imbes na ma-deliver siya ng 2018, aabot ng mga February 2019 ang delivery nila. Pero hindi naman mauubusan,” Domingo said.

“'Yun nga lang, kailangan lang natin i-distribute [sa mas maraming pasyente] para sigurado lahat maka-take ng gamot as scheduled,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the  HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) policy into law last week, a measure which allows minors aged 15 to 19 years old to have themselves tested for HIV even without parental consent.

Likewise, the new law will establish a a comprehensive HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program led by the DOH. — Llanesca T. Panti/BM, GMA News