Government offers free anti-AIDS drugs, but victims stay away

ANGELES CITY — An expensive drug that Philippine health experts say reduces the mortality rate from Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is now available for free from the government.

However, Dr. Roderick Poblete, medical specialist of the Philippine National AIDS Council of the Department of Health (DOH), told The STAR that only 250 sufferers of the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) which leads to AIDS — out of 2,373 HIV-positive or with full-blown AIDS in the country — have availed themselves of the free medication known as anti retro virals (ARVs).

Poblete attributed this to the stigma attached to the dreaded disease, mostly transmitted through sexual contact.

He said 2,658 HIV-AIDS cases have been confirmed in the country since 1984, 285 of whom have already died.

He, however, said the number could just be "the tip of the iceberg," noting the increase of HIV-AIDS cases from 100 per year in the early 1990s to 200 last year alone.

Poblete said the government, through the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), purchased the ARVs as part of its campaign to curb HIV-AIDS in the country.

"The same drug, which is in the category of the AZT and the so-called cocktail that gave Dr. David Ho the Pulitzer Prize in 1995, is known to have successfully prevented fatal complications (among HIV sufferers) and strengthened the immunity of those who have already developed AIDS," he said.

Because of the ARVs, the mortality rate from AIDS in Western countries has been reduced.

He cited the case of retired basketball player Ervin "Magic" Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers who, over a decade ago, announced publicly that he was afflicted with AIDS but who has remained healthy up to now.

"We have an oversupply of ARVs whose shelf life can last from three to four years, depending on environmental conditions," he said.

Poblete urged HIV and AIDS sufferers to avail themselves of the free ARVs, which must be taken orally on a daily basis.

He said the drugs purchased by the government are the less costly but equally effective generic versions of the expensive brands.

He said a month’s supply of branded ARVs could amount to $1,500.

The government, according to Poblete, plans to purchase more ARVs once the present supply runs out.

"But at present, there is an oversupply amid (scarce) demand," he lamented.

He said ARV tablets are available in six DOH-run hospitals: San Lazaro Hospital and the Philippine General Hospital in Manila; the Regional Institute of Tropical Medicine in Los Baños, Laguna; the Ilocos Training and Medical Center in La Union; the Davao Medical Center; and the DOH hospital in Cebu.

Poblete urged HIV-AIDS sufferers to go to these hospitals for free ARVs, assuring them of confidentiality as guaranteed under Republic Act 8504, or the so-called AIDS law.

Poblete, however, said ARVs do not prevent HIV or AIDS. "There is no cure for HIV and AIDS yet. The ARVs just curb the occurrence of fatal complications that could arise from HIV and strengthen the immunity of one who already has AIDS," he said.

He added that ARVs have produced some side effects among patients in other countries.

"So we have to monitor this, particularly the side effect on the liver, but this is not an unusual side effect in the use of other drugs," he said, adding that another side effect is fat growth in some parts of the body.

But Poblete said no adverse side effects have so far been observed among the 250 HIV-AIDS sufferers who have already availed themselves of the free ARVs.

Citing the latest statistics, Poblete said that of the 2,658 HIV-AIDS cases since 1984, 35 percent or 878 were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

"Our concern is particularly focused on those in the Middle East where, in general, there is no immediate access to social and health services," he said.

Poblete cited some cases of OFWs who were terminated from their jobs in the Middle East after they were found to be suffering from HIV or AIDS.

He estimates that for every reported HIV-AIDS case, there are three to four others that are unreported.

Statistics show that of the 2,658 HIV-AIDS cases since 1984, 1884 were males, and the rest, females.

"Figures indicate that most of the male victims belong to an age group where they are supposed to be most financially productive — 30 to 39 — while among the females, it is the age group — 20 to 29 — where they are supposed to be most sexually attractive," Poblete said.

He added that 1,584 of the sufferers were heterosexuals, and the rest, homosexuals.