Fake anti-retroviral drugs hit BA

Many HIV/AIDS victims in the Brong Ahafo Region are dying on daily basis due to the influx of fake anti-retroviral drugs imported from Nigeria.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in an exclusive interview, Emmanuel Owusu Sarpong, an HIV/AIDS positive who is also the founder of Community Survival Foundation, an HIV/AIDS advocacy group, disclosed that unless the Ministry of Health (MoH) steps in, many more people would continue to die from the disease.

Mr Owusu told DAILY GUIDE that he detected the fake drugs when he got some complications after taking them.

He said whereas those who contracted the disease recently are diagnosed with a CD 4, those who contracted the disease some years ago are diagnosed with a machine called viral loader, “but sadly a victim has to cough GHc 65 to go through the machine.”

He pointed out that the only option left to those who are unable to buy the drugs due to financial constraints is to stay home and die.

The HIV/AIDS advocate has appealed to the MoH to set up a committee to look into the matter so that those involved can be brought to book to save lives.