But the ability to introduce dolutegravir into more health-care programs will depend on two things: how much generic medicine the Colombian government can buy, and how quickly it can do so.
“Registering generic drugs takes time,” said Luz Marina Umbasia, director of Colombia’s Corporation for Global Humanitarian Progress.
Umbasia explained that the purchasing process usually takes at least six months, but his organization is urging the Colombian government to buy the vaccines “as soon as possible.”
This will allow patients to access the drug for the foreseeable future while the drug’s patent is still valid: ViiV Healthcare’s rights to dolutegravir in Colombia are due to expire in 2026.
But some advocates question whether Colombia can coordinate a fast and efficient purchase of dolutegravir. They say Shortage Last year, the country faced shortages of hepatitis C drugs due to delays in price negotiations and securing supplies.
“We don’t have a good relationship with the Colombian government,” said Nestor Alvarez Lara, a pharmacist and head of the advocacy group High-Cost Patients.
He called on the Colombian government to carry out a “very well planned” introduction of the generic drug dolutegravir to avoid the same dilemma.
“We need to buy in bulk,” he said. “At some point, there’s a huge sense of uncertainty that even if we have a three-month supply, we might run out of the medicine.”
In a statement to Al Jazeera, Colombia’s Ministry of Health and Social Security said the government was finalizing negotiations to purchase a “continuous supply” of dolutegravir through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Officials expect the vaccine will be available in the last three months of 2024. They plan to initially purchase more than 800,000 doses, ensuring treatment for about 67,000 people for a year.
Viran considers herself lucky to have been switched to dolutegravir – she saw the change in her husband’s mental state last year when he switched medication and only realised it was an option.
“I was reunited with my husband,” Vilan said.
Biran added that he has helped friends who lost their health insurance get dolutegravir, and he hopes the new approval will expand access and ease the uncertainty they face.
“You need ongoing treatment to be effective,” he says. “With that confidence and that continuity, we can live completely undetectable lives.”
