U.K. To Advocate for Lower Antiretroviral Prices in Developing
Countries, Assist in Compulsory Licenses, Minister Says
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[Dec 15, 2005]
U.K. Department for International Development
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
Minister Gareth Thomas on Wednesday during a speech at a confer-
ence in London said the U.K. "will continue to push" the pharma-
ceutical industry to reduce the price of newer antiretroviral
drugs in developing countries, London's Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,,1666794,00.html reports.
Thomas also pledged U.K. assistance to developing countries that
wish to use a World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org/
waiver that allows countries to issue compulsory licenses to im-
port generic drugs for diseases such as HIV/AIDS if a country
confirms that it cannot manufacture them domestically (Boseley,
Guardian, 12/14). The WTO general council last week agreed to
extend the 2003 waiver allowing compulsory licenses. The meas-
ure, which must be ratified by Dec. 1, 2007, needs approval from
two-thirds of the organization's 148 members to become permanent
(Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report).
Thomas said it is "inevitable" that HIV/AIDS patients will de-
velop resistance to first-line antiretrovirals, which are now
available at reduced prices. He added that newer, second-line
antiretrovirals can cost more than 10 times as much as first-
line drugs. The U.K. will promote the idea of "differential
pricing for developing countries so that it is the norm for es-
sential medicines to be cheaper in these countries," Thomas said
(Guardian, 12/14).