Drug shortage makes headlines
JournAIDS
29 June 2011
A widespread shortage of a drug used to treat cryptococcal meningitis is causing panic among the medical community. Both the Business Day and The New Age have published extensive reports on the shortage this week.
The antifungal drug amphotericin B, sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb as Fungizone is, at this stage, South Africa’s only viable option for treating cryptococcal meningitis. There is no generic version and alternatives are either unaffordable or not as effective.
According to Bristol-Myers Squibb new stock is due to arrive by 11 July. In the meantime, the TAC says a number of public hospitals have run out of the drug or are about to.
Cryptococcal meningitis is a fungal infection of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain. It is most common to people with weakened immunity and in South Africa predominantly affects people with advanced HIV.
Both articles outline the situation in detail and effectively illustrate the urgency of the issue, particularly in the context of our widespread HIV epidemic.
The Business Day, to an extent, has positioned its report within a broader debate over developing capacity to manufacture pharmaceuticals locally.
Times Live posted a shorter article on the shortfall.blog comments powered by Disqus
