HIV antiretroviral treatment for Portugal’s 22,000 infected patients is costing the country 200 million euros every year.
The revelation came yesterday from Coimbra specialist Joaquim Oliveira, backed up by the director of the national HIV/AIDS programme Kamal Mansinho.
The duo explained that the “consumption of hospital meds on average reached 200 million per year between the years of 2010 and 2015”, reports Correio da Manhã, stressing there are currently 22,000 HIV-positive patients in Portugal and each one represents an average medical expense of “around 10,000 euros per year”.
“We are far from a cure”, Oliveira stressed. A vaccine too is still some way off. “We have to use remedial treatments”, he said, adding that new meds “will be entering the market soon”.
