Uganda to lead in Aids drug supply (in Africa) | Sunday Monitor (Kampala)

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Uganda to lead in Aids drug supply
By Carolyne Nakazibwe
August 3, 2003

Uganda will by next year be the largest provider of anti retroviral drugs on the continent, UN Special Envoy on HIV in Africa Mr Stephen Lewis has said.

Addressing the press at the World Health Organisation (WHO) offices in Kampala, Friday, Lewis said 60,000 people would access the costly drugs in Uganda by next year, up from 15,000 today. About 150,000 Ugandans urgently need the drugs.

He was quoting administrators at the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Mengo, one of the leading distributors of the drugs in the country.

A monthly dose of the anti retrovirals currently sells at $23 (about Shs 45,000) at the centre, while it goes for $36 (about Shs 72,000) in other places.

The JCRC is also planning to bring the drug prices further down to $15 (about Shs 30,000) a dose per month.

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