The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | At least 1540 Congolese and 400 South Sudanese nationals living with HIV Aids can’t the life prolonging Anti-Retroviral drugs from Arua Regional Referral Hospital because of the Covid19 nationwide lock down.
The Congolese and South Sudanese nationals are part of 6700 HIV clients who have been receiving ARVs from the Arua hospital monthly.
However, due to the nationwide lock down and closure of the Uganda’s border to contain the spread of the Covid19 pandemic, clients from DRC and South Sudan have been stopped by the hospital authorities from coming for treatment.
Dr. Philbert Nyeko, the Director Arua Regional Referral Hospital has turned down a request by the ART Clinic to deliver the drugs to their clients across the border, saying it is only the president who can authorise the request.
One of the Nurses at the Clinic who didn’t want to be named told URN in a mixture of English and Lugbara that the Congolese nationals, majority of whom are on the second line of treatment wanted the ARVs delivered to them due to lack of the same in their country.
He explained that many of the clients who used to come to Arua Regional Referral hospital for free HIV treatment are now stranded because the borders are closed.
Sources within the hospital indicate that due to the high demand for ARVs in DRC, some of Ugandan clients have resorted to smuggling part of their drug allocation to the Congolese through the porous borders.
The failure by the Congolese and South Sudanese HIV positive people to access ARVs on time is likely to impact heavily on their lives as they may develop drug resistance.
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