Sowedi Muyingo, Mr¹, Konji Sebati, MD², Heather Lauver, Ms², Lisa Foster, Ms², and Joseph Saba, Dr¹. (1) Axios, Plot 1, Pilkington Road, Workers House Building 6th Floor, Kampala, Uganda, +256 41 340 806/7, Axios@axiosint.com, (2) Pfizer, 235 East 42nd Street, 235/7/22, New York, NY 10017

Issues:

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) and Oesophageal candidiasis (OC) are opportunistic infections (OI) that affect up to 30% and 40% of AIDS patients respectively. If untreated, prognosis is extremely poor. CM requires life long maintenance therapy. DiflucanŽ (fluconazole) is a common treatment for both infections.

Description:

Diflucan Partnership Program (DPP), launched by Pfizer in April 2000, aims to provide DiflucanŽ free-of-charge for treatment of CM and OC to institutions in developing countries with priority given to those with HIV prevalence above 1%. DPP supports training of health professionals in diagnosis and treatment of OI and inventory management. A website (www.diflucanpartnership.org) allows institutions to learn more about the program. Axios coordinates/facilitates the application process with prospective participants and provides technical assistance to ensure that sound and sustainable programs benefit from the donation.

Lessons learned and results:

Since 2001 49 institutions from 21 countries have submitted applications; 27 NGOs (55%) and 22 governments (44%). 26 requests in 20 countries were approved from 12 NGOs (46%) and 14 governments (54%). The 26 approved programs operate in 915 sites and more than 16,000 health professionals were trained. DPP has donated nearly 6 million tablets to cover treatment of 50,000 patients with OC and 28,000 patient-years with CM. Challenges to implementation include forecasting, policy changes, training, drug procurement and distribution, capacity to handle chronic disease management and integration of ART in HIV/AIDS treatment.

Recommendations:

The DPP is facilitating design, implementation and scaling up of comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs and prepares institutions for the introduction of ARV therapy.

Learning Objectives:

• DPP program results
• 1. Participants will be able to recognize the importance of donation and access programs in terms of reaching patients and care institutions in developing countries
• 2. Participants will be able to describe the value of a service oriented approach to access to drugs
• 3. Participants will be able to identify the major constraints in institutional access to drugs (i.e. custom procedures, forecasting)

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.