Nevirapine Failing to Reach South African HIV/AIDS Sufferers

Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine - developed by Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim - was a major component of South Africa's recent ARVs tender, there is evidence that sufferers are failing to take up the drug in sufficient numbers. This is despite the fact that it is still the country's least expensive and most widely-available HIV/AIDS drug.

Further, the problem highlights a general lack of adequate healthcare provision that is endemic throughout South Africa's more remote areas. Some sources had hoped that anti-retroviral drugs would help spearhead the expansion of healthcare coverage in South Africa, but efficacy questions over nevirapine have hampered wider acceptance among the millions of rural poor.

While it is evident that the drug is effective in blocking transmission of the AIDS virus from pregnant women to unborn children, it appears inadequate as a stand-alone therapy for the disease, according to recent study results. Another complicating factor is that questions over the drug's efficacy have also become mired in the familiar political deadlock common to debate over issues related to HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

Lobby groups have attempted to compel the government to provide the drug to all who need it, despite the fact that some combination therapies appear undesirable, and there is some evidence that many nevirapine users are becoming resistant to its effects. However, sources within the academic sector now claim that the government may now scale down its provision of the drug. In the meantime, the results of the next national ARVs tender will be keenly awaited.