Working group to help distribute AIDS drug

Working group to help distribute AIDS drug

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

People living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia have a new hope for
alleviating symptoms and delaying the onset of full-blown AIDS
for those with the HIV virus as the government has arranged the
supply of inexpensive generic AIDS drugs across the country.

A memorandum of understanding on generic antiretroviral (ARV)
drugs distribution cooperation was signed on Thursday between PT
Indofarma and the Working Group on HIV/AIDS at the Medical School
of University of Indonesia (Pokdisus UI).

"Through this cooperation, people with HIV/AIDS may obtain the
drugs for only Rp 60,000 (US$6.74) per dose, which is ten times
cheaper than the branded one," said Pokdisus spokesman Zubairi
Djoerban, who is also an AIDS medical expert.

As of today people infected with HIV in Indonesia numbered
some 120,000, and most come from middle to lower income brackets
who are unable to afford expensive brand-name drugs, Zubairi
said.

He said that the government had arranged for Indofarma to
import and deliver the drugs directly to Pokdisus, who would
later distribute them to any general practitioner who handled
patients with HIV/AIDS across the country.

"The patients therefore can order ARV through the doctors, who
will send the prescription to Pokdisus. The working group will
send the drugs to the patient's address, after receiving a bank
transfer receipt and the prescription," he said.

President Director of Indofarma Edy Pramono said: "The MOU
will take effect on Mar. 1, when people with HIV/AIDS may start
ordering ARV via Pokdisus."

He said that currently his company still has stocks for 15
days and is expecting next shipment from India and Thailand that
could provide three months stock.

The agreement was reached after the Food and Drug Control
Agency (BPOM) gave an import permit with Special Access Service
(SAS) procedure to Indofarma under the consideration of a
national emergency, said BPOM head Sampurno.

Meanwhile, in a hearing on Thursday, the House of
Representatives Commission VII for Health and Social Welfare
supported BPOM's step on giving such a permit as an effort to
curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

BPOM also clarified the issue about the agency's weak
monitoring that allowed legal precursors leaked, leading to high
illicit drugs production blamed for rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in
the country.

Sampurno said: "We have a full monitoring of legal narcotic,
psychotropic and precursors imports because only one
pharmaceutical factory imports the drugs."

On Tuesday a non-governmental organization said that BPOM had
weak monitoring proved by its own self-audit report on narcotic
control.

"The report was not on narcotics like heroin or cocaine, but
on codeine that is widely used for cough medicine among children.
We give warnings especially to drugstores that fail to provide
this particular narcotic, which is codeine," he said.