Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report-Thu, 2 Aug 2001
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DRUG ACCESS
Generic AIDS Drug Use in Nigeria, India May Reveal Treatment's Feasi-
bility
Generic antiretroviral drugs will soon "face several key field tests"
in Africa and India, where new treatment programs "will provide the
first clues about how helpful the cheaper drugs will be in making in-
roads against AIDS in countries that have been hardest hit," the Wall
Street Journal reports. Nigerian officials this week announced a plan
to treat 15,000 HIV-positive citizens with government-subsidized ge-
neric drugs manufactured by the Indian drug manufacturer Cipla Ltd.
As a nation that "wields tremendous influence on the continent", Ni-
geria's move is "likely to encourage other African countries to fol-
low suit", the Journal says. A smaller community-based project in In-
dia organized by the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Association will treat
400 patients, half of whom are migrant workers living in remote de-
sert villages. In addition, Kenya recently passed a law "opening the
door" to producing generic AIDS drugs. Cipla, whose "low pricing was
a catalyst for the burst of activity surrounding generic AIDS drugs,"
says that at least 20 countries have either bought or plan to buy its
generic AIDS medications. But administrators of the Nigerian and In-
dian treatment programs acknowledge that even with cheap medicines,
challenges in treating HIV-positive individuals remain, such as get-
ting patients to comply with complicated pill-taking regimens to re-
duce the risk of drug-resistant HIV development (Pesta/Schoofs, Wall
Street Journal, 8/2
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaiser network.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc.c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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