Procurement Process for Purchasing ARVs
What are ARVs and why they are important??
Antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) are made to decrease the viral load in people who have HIV or AIDS and inhibit both to multiply in the body. Viral load is the amount of HIV in the blood and is important to measure because people who have a high level of it are more prone to progress rapidly to AIDS than those with a low level of viral load.
Although ARVs are not the only medication that can be used, it is the only medication that decreases the level of the virus in the body, reduces morbidity, prolongs and improves the quality of life and prevents most opportunistic infections. Remember, though, that ARVs are the main type of treatment to stop people from becoming ill for many years but are not a cure.
The price of ARVs are decreasing, making treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries more and more of an available resource, however the cost is still at an incredibly high price. This is the reason why it is so important to have an efficient procurement process for such medication.
Although ARVs are not the only medication that can be used, it is the only medication that decreases the level of the virus in the body, reduces morbidity, prolongs and improves the quality of life and prevents most opportunistic infections. Remember, though, that ARVs are the main type of treatment to stop people from becoming ill for many years but are not a cure.
The price of ARVs are decreasing, making treatment programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries more and more of an available resource, however the cost is still at an incredibly high price. This is the reason why it is so important to have an efficient procurement process for such medication.
Details...
Avert, an International AIDS charity helps to explain, in more detail how the ARVs are divided in terms of their types, and what exactly each of them do. Here is a graph depicting this information:
As you can see, ARVs are very specific in terms of what they aim at destroying/preventing in the body. Any lack in quanlity would risk the efficiency of the medicine and as a result be detrimental to the people who are taking the medication since they would not be effective.
Today, India serves as the primary source of affordable ARVs. It is one of the only countries that is able to produce the generic version of ARVs. As a result, most AIDS organizations use India as their primary source for the product. Some interesting statistics to consider were are the following (taken from the Doctors without Borders Access to Essential Medicines article):
As you can see, ARVs are very specific in terms of what they aim at destroying/preventing in the body. Any lack in quanlity would risk the efficiency of the medicine and as a result be detrimental to the people who are taking the medication since they would not be effective.
Today, India serves as the primary source of affordable ARVs. It is one of the only countries that is able to produce the generic version of ARVs. As a result, most AIDS organizations use India as their primary source for the product. Some interesting statistics to consider were are the following (taken from the Doctors without Borders Access to Essential Medicines article):
- 80% of ARVs MSF uses are purchased in India and are distributed in treatment projects in over 30 countries
- Globally, 79% of the treatement for patients in 87 developing countries, purchased by UNICEF, IDA, the Global Fund and the Clinton Foundation since July 2005
- PEPFAR, the US President's AIDS intiative also purchases ARVs from India for distribution in developing countries, thus resulting in cost-savings up to 90%
- 91% of the generic ARVs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for PEPFAR are from India.
- 90% of the ARVs uesd in Zimbabwe's national treatment programme come from India
