Africa: Governments rejects USA approved HIV/Aids drugs
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A row has reportedly erupted between the US government and four
African countries over the refusal to accept the FDA approval of
generic Aids drugs manufactured in South Africa.
Health officials in Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia in-
sist that FDA approval for ARV drugs had no standing in their
regulatory reviews of medicine and that the World Health Organi-
sation (WHO) and their national drug authorities must first
clear the drugs before their citizens register to use them.
US officials however say their own approval was sufficient and
the WHO system was "not stringent enough". "What is Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania, or the WHO going to do that is
better than the FDA?" South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare senior ex-
ecutive in charge of strategic trade development Stavros, is
quoted by the Bostonn Globe to have asked. The pertinent ques-
tion to ask is: Should registration of a drug by the US Food and
Drug Administration automatically confer registration status in
other nations especially in "resource-poor" African countries?
Read full report below and offer your own opinion.
A. Odutola
mailto:chpss_abo2@yahoo.com
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Uganda govt rejects USA approved HIV/Aids drugs
By: Kakaire A. Kirunda & Peter Nyanzi
The Monitor
Source: http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news06223.php
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