Cheap drugs for HIV/AIDS to come in October

Sri Wahyuni and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta

People living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia have been given new hope for a more affordable HIV/AIDS treatment following the announcement of plans by a state-owned pharmaceutical company to produce anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs in the near future.

Kimia Farma president director Gunawan Pranoto said on Monday that the generic ARV drugs were expected to be available in October.

"We are waiting for a permit from the government to produce and distribute them," said Gunawan, adding that the ARV drugs would be produced at its plant in Bandung, West Java.

Currently, Indonesia imports ARV drugs from India, China and Thailand, which are sold at around Rp 650,000 for a one-month supply.

ARV drugs have proven effective in helping people living with HIV/AIDS to live a more productive life and in reducing mortality and morbidity by possible infectious diseases contracted from complications resulting from HIV/AIDS.

Gunawan said locally produced ARV would cost around Rp 500,000 per monthly supply, and would be available at government health institutions and other institutions licensed by the government.

The production of ARV would be determined only by request from those institutions.

"The products will also be available at Kimia Farma pharmacies," said Gunawan, adding that the company has 300 pharmacies across the country, including in troubled provinces such as Maluku, Aceh and Papua.

He said Kimia Farma would produce five different kinds of ARV drugs under the brand names Reviral, Hiviral, Neviral, Duviral and Triviral.

The active ingredient in Reviral is 100 mg of Zidovudin, Hiviral consists of 150 mg Lamivudin, Neviral consists of 100 mg Nevirapine, Duviral consists of 150 mg Lamivudine and 300 mg of Zidovudine, while Triviral consists of 150 mg Lamivudine, 300 mg of Zidovudine and 200 mg of Nevirapine.

Gunawan said the company could produce more affordable products because it did not need to invest in infrastructure nor distribution network development.

The Ministry of Health confirmed separately on Monday that the government planned to disburse a monthly subsidy of Rp 400 million in medication for 2,000 poor people living with HIV/AIDS next year.

The ministry would channel the fund, taken from its routine budget, directly to the pharmacy company, an official said in Jakarta.

The Access to Therapy and Diagnosis coordinator of the Working Group on AIDS at Jakarta-based University of Indonesia, Samsuridjal Djauzi, said that a person living with HIV/AIDS was not required to show a poverty status card (kartu miskin) to receive the subsidized ARV treatment.

He welcomed Kimia Farma's plan to produce ARV drugs locally, and said the generic product was expected to boost access to affordable HIV/AIDS treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"There are about 130,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia at present. But only 1,000 of them have access to the drugs they need," Samsuridjal said.

Indonesia has secured assistance from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM) to produce ARV drugs to be administered to people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.