Vital AIDS medicine withheld from Algarve hospitals

Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte has demanded of the government that there really should be medicine available in the region’s hospitals, especially drugs needed for the treatment of AIDS.

In the face of thoese being treated with drugs discovering there aren’t many available, Cristóvão Norte, a Social Democratic Party MP, said that those needing drugs for rare and chronic diseases are in “despair” that their drug supplies are intermittent at best.

Norte says that there has been “an unusual increase in complaints from patients and their families about the lack of medicines in the Algarve’s hospitals. Many of these cases, which have already been highlighted on more than one occasion by PSD MPs in parliament, continue with some becoming more serious.

“This leads patients in despair to go to hospital pharmacies to collect their prescribed medication – many have rare and chronic diseases – that is essential to preserve the quality of life of these citizens and, due to successive delays, suffer a decline in health, always causing great anguish for vulnerable people,” said Norte.

Two of the delayed medicines are used to treat primary immunodeficiency syndromes, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hypogammaglobulinemia and bacterial infections, a key drug in the treatment of AIDS.

“This is just an example. It is very important that access to health care for these citizens is not jeopardised, as many of them have high levels of disability, recognised by the State, and the need for medication to be taken at the right time is essential,” concluded the MP.