INNOVATIONS in pharmacy

Antiviral and antiretroviral drug shortages amidst COVID-19: How Africa is struggling

Sudhan Rackimuthu

Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Zohra Kazmi

Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan

Osman Kamal Osman Elmahi

Faculty of Medicine, Ibn Sina University, Khartoum, Sudan

Reem Hunain

Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India

Behram Khan Ghazi

Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Zain Ali Zaidi

Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan

Ana Carla dos Santos Costa

Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Shoaib Ahmad

Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Mohammad Yasir Essar

7Medical Research Center, Kateb University, Kabul, Afghanistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/iip.v12i4.4328

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Abstract

Antiviral drugs are of paramount importance in the accomplishment of the vision of zero new cases of COVID-19 globally, through sustainable retaliation against viral diseases. However, several challenges currently exist in Africa which include insufficient infrastructure, deteriorating health systems, and rising costs of healthcare delivery with concomitant rising inequity with regards to access to health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic itself has stimulated an increased use of phytotherapy in Africa as a result of essential drug shortages that have been attributed to a plethora of contributing factors such as travel restrictions, reduced per capita income as well as increased expenditure on transport. As a result, the paucity of antiviral along with antiretroviral drugs used to combat COVID-19 as well as several other endemic viral diseases in Africa has created a worrisome state. This article therefore discusses and aims to underscore the causes, effects, and implications of antiviral and antiretroviral shortages amid COVID-19 in Africa.