The Build Timor Foundation calls on the Ministry of Health to improve the distribution of medicine to health facilities so they can guarantee treatment for people with HIV/AIDs, as their lives depend on Anti Retro Viral drugs.
Director of theBuild Timor Foundation (FTH) Aguia Belo Ximenes said the Ministry of Health should control the stock of Anti Retro Viral (ARV) drugs, which are very important for HIV/AIDs patients.
“We ask the Ministry of Health to develop and strengthen their systems because Timor-Leste has been given about $6 million for the next three years from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDs and STI treatment,” said Director Belo in Farol, Dili
He said they had ARV drugs in stock because of the support from the Global Fund but they needed to fix the system of distribution, especially for ARV drugs.
He also said FTH, through the VCCT Clinic, tests at risk groups like sex workers, sex worker clients and men who have sex with men to find out if they’re HIV positive, then sends them to the national hospital for ARV treatment.
On the other hand, Estrela Plus representative Franki Damianos, who accompanies HIV/AIDs patients for treatment, said sometimes health staff sent patients away because they have no medicine.
“The distribution of medicine is late so then health personnel send them away, this happens at the National Hospital and Bairo-Pite Clinic,” said Damianos.
He said they accompanied patients with HIV/AIDs to help them seek treatment and the patients really improved when they took the prescribed medicine.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of Health Maria do Ceu said the ministry didn’t buy the ARV medicine as it was supported by the Global Fund, but they needed to put in more of an effort to resolve this.
“We just coordinate to resolve this quickly, the Ministry of Health buys it but we just coordinate the money from the Global Fund,” she said.
