Antiretroviral shortages hit Cameroon – Survey

Antiretroviral (ARV) drug supplies have dwindled to 42.6 percent in Cameroon from 14 to 18 March 2016, according to the results of a survey published by the Treatment Access Watch Association (TAW) on Wednesday.
The NGO reported that 26.3 percent of centers have bemoaned the unavailability of CD4 crucial for the welfare of AIDS sufferers in the healthcare system.

According to TAW, the number of care-giving centers demanding additional costs for biological follow-up examinations (guidance assessment, clinical assessment, and check-up monitoring), reached an average of 53.9 percent.

The demanded costs for the orientation check have reached the neighbourhood of CFA8, 500, with pre-treatment assessment requiring CFA30, 000 while check-up monitoring goes for CFA37, 500.

In Cameroon which has a population of 22 million people, 660,000 were diagnosed with the disease in 2014, suggesting a prevalence rate of 4.8 percent among adults aged between the ages of 15 and 49, according to UNAIDS figures.

ARV shortages have been frequently reported in the country since 2013.