Barely a week since World AIDS Day, where we forewarned that Malta was quickly losing control of the situation on HIV, we are now faced with a crisis where several patients are being told that stocks of HIV Medication have run dry. The situation has been developing throughout this week.
This is nothing short of a public health crisis. Not taking medication regularly allows the HIV virus inside a person’s body to gain resistance, making entire ranges of antiretrovirals ineffective against it. It also allows HIV to start attacking a person’s immune system, increasing their susceptibility to various other illnesses including COVID-19, and making the virus transmittable.
We are appalled that the situation has been allowed to spin out of control notwithstanding regular appeals by activists. All this is happening against a background where new medication is being left to decay in boxes whilst longwinded bureaucratic processes take their time to be completed. This transition to new medication might be one of the reasons behind the current shortage, however a well-planned transition should have included a phasing-out plan that guaranteed that nobody was left without their life- saving medication at any one point.
Had this been a shortage chemotherapy or diabetes medication it would be nothing short of a national scandal. Yet health authorities insist on doubling down on an attitude where HIV patients are treating like second class citizens.
We appeal for a quick resolution.
HIV Malta | Checkpoint Malta | aditus foundation | allied rainbow communities | Drachma | LGBTI+ Gozo
