One of the pills, Atripla Pharmac will fund two single-pill HIV treatments from the beginning of December, which it says will make medicine regimes more convenient for people living with HIV. Atripla is a combination of three already-funded medicines (efavirenz, emtricitabine and tenofovir), while Truvada is a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir. Pharmac medical director Dr Peter Moodie says many HIV patients are on combinations of medicines, and having these products combined into one pill can make their medicine regimens more convenient. "It’s not uncommon for people with HIV to have to take two, three or even four pills at a time," he says. "It’s important that doctors treating these patients continue to have the ability to tailor treatment to meet the needs of each patient, so in addition to funding the combination products, we will continue funding for the individual components." The medicines will be funded under the same access criteria as HIV medicines that are already funded. Approximately 900 patients are estimated to be prescribed the combination products.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 23rd November 2012 - 11:29am