"Beggars Can't Be Choosers"

I've heard a lot of comments about ARV's in forums and in social networking sites here in the Philippines about our ARV's. A handful are asking why we are still taking 2-4 pills of ARV's in our cocktail when there are already options in the rest of the world for just a one pill ARV. A lot are asking when is the time coming when we will take only one pill a day so that we won't have a hard time swallowing all our current cocktail drugs. A lot are asking if they can get them from the U.S., Canada and Europe and have the ARV'st fedexed here.



Well, we can't choose what is being provided for us for FREE for sure. There are no available ARV's here in the local market and in the local pharmacy so we are getting everything from the last batch of medicines subsidized by the Global Fund and starting next year by PhilHealth. Our ARV's are all generic and are made in India, so I am guessing that they are pretty cheap as compared to the branded ones. One can't also just get ARV's from other countries unless they are screened and have been checked up by doctors there.

We have no choice but accept everything that is recommended to us. We have to accept our own hubs' directives. We have no choice but to follow.

Looking at the bright side of things, all ARV's in the Philippines are provided for FREE. We don't have to pay anything in our hubs for them, except for the handling fee if we are getting them from a private hospital. We are still lucky because the price of a cocktail per month reaches up to $2000 (Php 86,000) per month in the rest of the world.  One pozzie said that in the US and Canada, the all-in-one pill Atripla alone costs $1670.95 (Php 71,850.85) for 30 days. Expensive huh? So how can they afford it then? Well, because their insurance pays for most of it. Unlike here in the Philippines, no insurance company will pay for that amount per month, so good luck to us if we can still afford it without the support of the Global Fund and PhilHealth.

"Beggars can't be choosers", as the saying goes. For now, since every ARV is FREE, we should start thanking our government for what it is doing for us. We always should look at the bright side of things, and smile.

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