Women threaten to sue over ban on HIV drug

Dolutegravir (DTG), the anti-retroviral drug of choice for those living with HIV in developed countries. HIV-positive women have threatened to go to court if the government does lift a ban on the drug. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Health experts and civil society organisations have disapproved the government’s decision to stop issuing the drug to women of childbearing age.
  • DTG, also known as Tivicay, is issued for free in government facilities. The same drug, however, costs between Sh6,000 and Sh6,500 in pharmacies.

HIV-positive women have threatened to go to court if the government does not lift a ban on an antiretroviral drug recently found to cause birth defects in pregnant women.

Through International Community of Women Living with HIV-Kenya Vice Chairperson Patricia Asero, the women said the Health ministry’s decision to deny all women of reproductive age access to Dolutegravir (DTG) is unfair and curtails their right to attain the highest standard of care.

“DTG is a drug we have been dreaming to have access to and when the government makes a decision on our behalf without consulting us, it is denying us our fundamental rights,” she said.

“We take ARVs to suppress the virus and improve our health. Compared to Efavirenz, DTG has been shown to have better outcomes and, therefore, it is totally unfair for the government to deny us the drug."

Health experts and civil society organisations have similarly disapproved the government’s decision to stop issuing the drug to women of childbearing age.

ISSUED FREE

DTG, also known as Tivicay, is issued for free in government facilities. The same drug, however, costs between Sh6,000 and Sh6,500 in pharmacies.

Last month the ministry ordered counties to stop prescribing DTG after preliminary findings of a study linked the drug to birth defects in HIV-positive women of childbearing age.

Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko also instructed county health directors to give Efavirenz, a first-line treatment, to women of childbearing age. He insisted DTG, launched in the Kenyan market last year, was not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women “due to limited safety data".

Efavirenz (sold under the brand name Sustiva) is an anti-HIV drug that reduces the amount of virus in the body. Current World Health Organisation guidelines released in 2016 recommend Efavirenz as the preferred option in pregnancy.

BIRTH DEFECTS

Speaking to Nation, Dr Dismas Oketch, an HIV researcher at Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), said the ministry’s guideline may not have been the best approach given that therapeutic healthcare is highly individualised, meaning that what works for one patient may not work for another.

“The decision was based on the Botswana study for which we cannot authoritatively say that DTG caused the birth defects seen in babies born of mothers who were using the drug,” he said.

He further added that instead of the government stopping all women of reproductive age from using DTG, it should have put in place a guideline that allowed them to choose.

“For instance, if a woman is using an effective contraceptive method and has no intentions of being pregnant anytime soon, then she should be allowed to use DTG,” he said.