Running out of stock of ARVs in Manipur?

[Guest guest]

Dear all

It is always been 1 year through of free ARVs roll out in the State

of Manipur. But to my surprise is that one of our female member went to

collect her ARV from the centre i.e. J.N.Hospital (one of the centre), but the

authority told her that Efavirenz was out of stock and they informed her that

the stock will arrived in the month of May i.e. one of the combination of the

1st line regimen which she has been taking. As she has co-infection of HCV &

HIV.

So what is the future of the PLWHAs, who are taking ARVs from Free ARVs roll out

Centres. Whether she have to afford it by herself till she get it from the

centre or she should stop taking the drugs. In reality she doesn't have the

money to buy a tablet of antibiotics.

This the life a PWLHAs of Manipur is facing.

In solidarity

Ratan

MNP+

E-mail: <ratanng@...>

[Guest guest]

Hi Ratan and Friends in Manipur and the forum:

Thank you Ratan for bringing up the issue on the Free ARV distribution. I am

indeed shocked that not even a single response was posted from any quarter

either from the responsible persons nor additional protest about the lack of

co-ordinated and continuous supply of ARV. Each project usually begins with a

boom and media hype but when projects don't deliver them efficiently, all its

loopholes seems to get swept under the carpet.

What surprised me most is that this forum doesn't even have a discussion thread

following up Ratans posting. It looks like we dont have anything to offer and

help fellow citizens who are availing the Free ARV and facing the shortage of

supplies. I was offline since the past week and didn't get to read the posting.

I find that Ratan's posting is on the 5th of April, and till date I don't see

any follow-up posting on this in the forum. Can this be termed as

'discrimination' in itself? I am sure ratan never posted it to propagate his

name, or his organisations, but raised an issue that needs attention. I cant

help but wonder what the response from the members of the forum would be, if

Ratan had posted that he is inviting letters of intent for an amount of 1Bn US$

that he can give away for Free ARV programme. Whenever someone needs some

program or project to be propagated or reported, the forum is the first place we

would hear their voices, but when it comes to fighting such discrimination of

PLWHA it looks like the forum members are busy and the zeal seems to have

diminished.

I spoke to a friend in Manipur and tried to learn the ground reality there, but

unfortunately I was unable to learn the supply chain of the free ARV program.

Looks like the supply chain and those who are responsible for the program is a

very secret matter. Can't we have some transparency in health issues? In Ratan's

Posting, he said the authority told the recipient that the medicines would

arrive one month later. I wonder was he(the authority) not wise enough to order

medicine before he ran out of supplies? How can such programs function with such

individuals who are not concerned about another fellow countrymen?

Presently, I am frustrated in the plight of my fellow country men who are denied

free ARV even though they are entitled to receive them. My request to those who

are reading this is that, If you are responsible in any way for the Free ARV

distribution, please look into the matter, implement corrective measures and see

that continuous supply of medicines are maintained. If you are someone

concerened about PLWHA or is a PLWHA, lets join hands with Ratan in raising the

voice and making the Free ARV program deliver what it was originally designed to

deliver.

In solidarity,

Lall

jol@...