The group of people with HIV/AIDS has made a request to the Ministry of Health to resume the access to the necessary medicine for the HIVAIDS patients in Svetlogorsk and Gomel. The reasons of the ARV-therapy delivery break are still not clear. This request was addressed for the Minister of Health Vasily Zharko on the September 14 (22-SEP-07).
Based on information at www.belapan.by
The reason for this appeal became a crisis situation with the medicine provision for HIV-infected people, having anti-retrovirus (ARV) therapy in Svetlogorsk and Gomel. In particular, one of the therapy components in the form of pills (zidovudine, epivir) was substituted to syrup. This causes the degradation of the patients’ life quality and considerable annoyances. Besides this, there is no ARV medicine diver. It means the reduction of quantity of the possible schemes of therapy. It adversely affects the duration of patients’ lives and may lead to tragic final. This situation has taken place since September 3. The reasons of the ARV-therapy delivery break are still not clear. It gives serious apprehensions concerning terms of its resumption.
Comment of the officials
The deputy head of the Minister of Health, the main sanitary inspector of Belarus, Michail Rymzha claimed -‘People who have HIV, are totally provided with medicine’. As Mr. Rymzha stated that more then 800 people in Belarus take ARV-therapy nowadays. According to his words, the medicines were bought on 1.5 bln dollars at the expanses of the Global UN anti-AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Foundation grant. He also noticed that 12 more kinds of medicine are bought and 19 schemes of medicines taking are used for HIV-infected people treatment. The main sanitary inspector also noticed that the individual treatment scheme is worked out for every man who lives with HIV. And the application of medicine in the form of syrups he called more safety for the patients and stated that medicines in such forms are already used abroad.
Some statistics
By the data of the Republican hygiene, epidemiology and public health center, 8 395 HIV-infected people were registered in Belarus by September 1(by August 1the number was 8350). 648 HIV-infected were detected this year. 34,6% of HIV-infected are women. 115 children have “HIV-infection” confirmed diagnosis. Seven of them have already died. 1129 fatal outcomes among HIV-infected were registered, 826 were drug users (73.2% of died persons). 468 persons have died with AIDS.
