African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic Why ... - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 45 – ARVs Can Double Patient LivesA CD4 count is used to assess the immune status ofHIV infected persons.In Uganda, there are currently about 132,000 people onantiretroviral therapy, yet nearly 300,000 require thedrugs.However, the government recently allocated Shs60billion to the health sector for the procurement ofARVs, a move likely to bring another 150,000 personsliving with HIV on treatment.Uganda has set a target of putting 263,000 people ontreatment by 2012, and 342,000 by 2020.But this raises questions on sustainability, as 95 percent of the ARV programme is currently donorsupported, mainly by the American-funded President’sEmergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) initiative.☻☻☻☻☻☻Drug Factories Sub-StandardBy Conan BusingeNew Vision (Kampala)18 July 2008THE majority of drug manufacturing companies inUganda do not meet operational standards, according toa new survey. A survey by the National Drug Authorityrevealed that several companies will be closed soon,after their grading is completed. The companies werenot named.The report was presented at the authority's annualgeneral meeting at Protea Hotel in Kampala onThursday. It noted that most companies do not meetrequired minimum production standards. It also foundunsanitary protective uniforms, change rooms,production rooms, stores, corridors and wash areas formanufacturing vessels.""Half of the manufacturing companies had problemswith cleaning sanitary premises," said Nasser Mbaziira,the eastern regional drug inspector, "A number of themhave procedure guidelines, but no records; and thereverse was true for others." He added that there werealso anomalies in the flow of the production process.The inspectors explained that there should be a specificflow of the production process to avoid contaminationand back flows."Much as there is improvement in documentation ofmanufacturers' activities, the majority of them do not-44- Traditional African Clinic October 2008record the production process," said the report. It also notedthat half the companies did not have internal audit systemsand there was little input from the managers in theproduction process.Despite the shortcomings, the companies had hand washingfacilities, ongoing installations of air-conditioning systemsand quality control labs.Mbaziira said the firms would be graded in five categoriesdepending on their performance. "The worst ones withcritical working conditions will have their certificates andlicenses withdrawn. They will also be instantly closed."Copies of the survey's highlights, which were given to theparticipants, were later withdrawn after complaints fromsome manufacturers who wanted the results to remainconfidential."This is unfair to us. How are we going to convinceexporters that our products are of good quality? You shouldhave addressed the press, exporters and manufacturersdifferently," retorted one as several participants nodded inapproval.However, the authority's chief inspector, Kate Kikule, said:"There is nothing to hide. In this way we can build our localproducers by improving their products' quality. All drugsare inspected before getting to the market."Only those that meet the standard are distributed to thepublic."NDA chief Apollo Muhairwe stressed that the "inspectionswere done to develop the local drug manufacturingindustry."http://allafrica.com/stories/200807210123.html☻☻☻☻☻☻CDC: 1.1 million Americanshave AIDS VirusPopulation living with HIV grows as more become infected,survive longerOctober 2, 2008WASHINGTON - A new estimate of how many Americanshave the AIDS virus puts the number at about 1.1 million,the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said onThursday.The CDC numbers, based on 2006 data, show thepopulation living with HIV is growing as people becomenewly infected and as more patients survive thanks to HIVdrugs.The report also suggests that past estimates that more than 1million Americans were living with HIV overstated theContinued on page 45