Zimbabwe is facing serious shortages of life-saving HIV
drugs following the devaluation of the local currency, which wiped away funds
collected by the National Aids Council through the Aids levy.
NAC communications director, Madeline Dube, told
journalists on Friday that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s decision to ditch the 1:1
exchange rate between the bond notes and United States dollar had seen the
funds for anti-retroviral drugs for the year being reduced fivefold.
“At the beginning of the year we had about $23 million in
our account and that money was equivalent to US$23 million since the rate was
at 1:1,” she said.
“But now with the devaluing of the bond notes currency and
as it stands, that money is now about RTGS$5 million if you calculate using the
inter-bank market rate.
“That is a serious crisis and the money is too little to
purchase ARVs adequate to meet demand.
“We are faced with a situation where we are going to be
hard-hit by the drugs shortages,” she said.
According to latest statistics released by NAC, 1,3 million
people are living with HIV in the country and are in need of ARVs.
Of these, 1,249 million are aged above 15 years while 76
700 are children aged 14 and below.
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