The Patient Control movement reports that Saint Petersburg AIDS Center is concerned that antiretroviral treatment supplies available to the organization might not be enough to provide all the patients with. In order to make the supplies last till the next delivery, medicines like Etravirin (Intelence), Dolutegravir (Tivicay), Fosamprenavir (Telzir) and Lamivudine/Zidovudin will be temporarily given out only for one month’s period and other drugs for two months’ period instead of three.
Social activists stress that the Russian Ministry of Health purchasing drugs for the regions centrally, in 2019 started to announce auctions for medicine procurement as late as January. So if the auctions end successfully, the regions will receive their supplies in April-May at best.
The situation is similar in Sevastopol where they are also running out of drugs.
According to the local TV channel NTS website, 5.5 million Rubles from the contingency fund of the city budget now has to be spent on urgent additional purchase of drugs. This crisis resulted from technical difficulties “the Russian Ministry of Health was faced with”.
The media quotes the Head of Sevastopol Government Health Department, ‘These expenses are not provided for in Sevastopol’s city budget. Deliveries are normally carried out by the Ministry of Health but at the moment we’re running out of medicine. And another delivery is due only in April’.