HARARE Zimbabwes National AIDS Council (NAC) has bought US$890,000 worth of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs following allegations that it was abusing funds generated by a three per cent tax on income known as the AIDS levy. ??The NAC had collected about US$1.7m since February 2009, but spent only US$20,000 on ARVs, prompting HIV/AIDS activists to call for a financial audit. Several recent reports have alleged that most of the money was being spent on salaries and perks.
For years this fund has been more controversial than beneficial to us people living with HIV, said Stanley Takaona, deputy president of the Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Activist Union (ZHAU), which has been calling for reform of the NAC.
We want the NAC to be removed from the administration of this fund so that it can focus on its other role of coordinating HIV/AIDS programmes in Zimbabwe. A more credible organisation should take over the role of administrator. We also want a thorough audit of the AIDS levy over the years.
Mdecins Sans Frontires estimates that 400 of the more than 1.7 million people living with HIV in Zimbabwe die every day from AIDS-related illnesses. According to the health ministry, about 155,000 patients are getting ARVs from public health facilities just under half the number thought to be in need of the drugs. ??
When the AIDS levy was set up, it was with the intention of taking care of those living with HIV, not to pay salaries and buy expensive cars for administrators of the fund. If we accept this, then we have totally lost the plot, said Dr Douglas Gwatidzo, chair of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR).
The NAC has refuted the allegations, insisting in a statement that no funds had been misused, and blaming the delay in procuring ARVs on long tender procedures and the fact that it is not cost effective to procure ARVs using the AIDS levy on a monthly basis, as the cost of procurement will outstrip the intended supply.??
Gwatidzo said the NAC should not be allowed to hold the lives of people living with HIV at ransom because of tender proceduresI dont believe that tender procedures can take as much as eight months. We are talking about peoples lives here, and they need to be serious about this.
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