The National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP) Wednesday announced the introduction of Dolutegravir (DTG) as the first line of treatment for people living with HIV/Aids.
The DTG, first approved in the United States in 2013, has been available in 24 health centres that serve about 20,000 patients with the backing of the health agency UNITAID.
Kenya has been using nevirapine or efavirenz---which is less potent on suppressing viruses and vulnerable to resistance.
About 15 per cent of HIV patients are resistant, which means the medicines do not work for them.
Kenya will offer for free a generic version of the latest AIDS drug that can improve and prolong the lives of people who suffer severe side effects and resistance to treatment.
The National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP) Wednesday announced the introduction of Dolutegravir (DTG) as the first line of treatment for people living with HIV/Aids.
The DTG, first approved in the United States in 2013, has been available in 24 health centres that serve about 20,000 patients with the backing of the health agency UNITAID. It is the drug of choice for people with HIV in high-income countries who have never taken antiretroviral therapy before and for those who have developed resistance to other treatment. Head of Nascop Kigen Bartilol said DTG has few side effects, is easier to ingest (one tablet daily), and patients are less likely to develop resistance.
He said the drug that also suppresses viral load --- the amount of HIV in one’s blood — will be made available in all public health centres for free.
“We have enough stock and we are currently training health workers before it is introduced to the masses,” he said.
In 2015, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended DTG as an alternative first-line regimen for adults and adolescents and the drug was piloted in Kenya in 2017.
Kenya has been using nevirapine or efavirenz---which is less potent on suppressing viruses and vulnerable to resistance. About 15 per cent of HIV patients are resistant, which means the medicines do not work for them.
DTG will be offered as an alternative to adults above 15 years who weigh more than 35 kilogrammes and have a suppressed viral load of less 1000 copies.
About 1.5 million Kenyans are HIV positive, with about one million of them on treatment, official data shows.
The number of new infections in Kenya has almost halved over the last decade to 80,000 a year, thanks to increased testing, treatment and awareness.
UNITAID works to bring medicines to the market quickly and to reduce manufacturing costs by allowing generic companies to access patents for a small royalty and produce them cheaply for the developing world. The brand name version of DTG is Tivicay, produced by ViiV Healthcare, which is majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline.
Kenya, with one of the world’s largest HIV positive populations, has made great strides in addressing the pandemic in its public medical facilities.
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