Activists urge Indonesia’s govt to resolve HIV drugs shortage amid COVID-19 pandemic

We reported how stockouts, since January this year, have been leaving people living with HIV without their essential treatment in parts of Indonesia.

Published by the Jakarta Post, 20 March 2020.

Now, Civil society groups assisting HIV patients in the country have urged the Health Ministry to pay attention to the supply of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for such patients, who have been affected by the global COVID-19 outbreak.

“The Health Ministry should think about how COVID-19 affects ARV drug availability,” Indonesia AIDS Coalition executive director Aditya Wardhana said in a statement on Friday.

The ministry has purchased the drugs from India using a grant from the Global Fund. However, the shipments are expected to be delayed since the airline assigned to deliver the drugs to Indonesia has canceled its flight for the past two weeks because of the pandemic.

Read the article in full.

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