By Justine Odionyi, Head of Disease, HIV, DNDi
When I recently visited a hospital ward in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, I left feeling deeply distraught. Over a dozen patients with HIV were admitted with cryptococcal meningitis – a fungal disease which is the second-leading cause of HIV- related death. Many were diagnosed late, which meant this disease, which causes excruciating headaches, fever and neck stiffness, had advanced so much it was increasingly difficult to treat them. To make things worse, the lifesaving treatment for cryptococcal meningitis was in limited supply, with stockouts common in this hospital.
