Dear E-druggers,
I am forwarding the below "open letter" on behalf of a number of Chinese
people living with HIV/AIDS.
Thanks.
Best Regards,
Odilon Couzin
Executive Director, China AIDS Info
PO Box 6220, Hong Kong GPO
odilon@china-aids.org
http://www.china-aids.org
-------
Open letter from Chinese People with HIV/AIDS to Pharmaceutical Companies in
China
3 February 2004
Dr. Richard Zhang, Country Manager and Chief Representative, Merck China
GSK HQ London
Merck HQ USA
We the undersigned are individuals living with HIV/AIDS in China.
The HIV/AIDS problem is growing rapidly in China. Even according to
government figures, 200,000 people have already died of AIDS in our country,
and many more are seriously ill. We desperately need treatment, and we need
your companies to help us.
The Chinese government has pledged free treatment to all those in need. It
has drafted a national plan, and is now starting to provide free treatment
to people like us. It has successfully applied for millions of US dollars
from the Global Fund to help with those plans. Our leaders have shown a new
determination to face the problem of HIV/AIDS, and to help us stay alive.
But there are problems. The drugs now available in China are woefully
inadequate. Critical elements such as Lamivudine are missing, and others
like Efavirenz are so expensive that neither we nor the government can
afford to buy them. The four drugs that are now being produced in China are
not on the World Health Organization's list of recommended first-line
treatments for HIV/AIDS, and in fact two of them are now on a "not
recommended" list on the latest US National Institutes of Health treatment
guidelines. Yet we have no choice but to take these drugs.
The Chinese government's immense efforts are being hampered because
companies like yours are putting profits before saving lives. For years, GSK
has been selling Lamivudine in China, not to treat HIV/AIDS but to treat
Hepatitis-B. In fact, you don't even market the drug in the proper dosage
for HIV/AIDS, except as Combivir, which is prohibitively expensive and
limits treatment options.
China has the technical capacity to produce its own drugs, including
Lamivudine and many others. Yet despite repeated requests from both the
government and NGOs, you have refused to allow domestic manufacture of this
much needed and critical drug.
In its national China CARES treatment plan, the Chinese government has
indicated its plan to use Efavirenz (EFV) as part of its second-line of
anti-retroviral treatment. At present, that drug is marketed for more than
$3.00/day in China. That may represent a "preferential" price compared to
the cost in developed countries, but the reality is that, like 3TC,
Efavirenz is beyond the reach of all but the most well-off Chinese with
HIV/AIDS. At the very least, your refusal to allow such production will
seriously impair or even cripple Chinese government efforts to provide
effective treatment to people with HIV/AIDS.
You know very well that the vast majority of Chinese people with HIV/AIDS
cannot afford to buy your drugs. It is all too clear that you choose your
profits over our lives.
You have not listened to the requests of our government or of NGOs, so we
are writing to you directly. We are writing to request that you immediately
allow for the domestic licensing and production of anti-retroviral drugs in
China, or at the very least drop your prices to the point where Chinese
people can afford them. We are not asking for charity, only that you forgo
your normal profit margin.
Your prompt attention would be appreciated. This is truly a matter of life
and death.
Sincerely,
Signed by 17 PHA from 11 Chinese provinces (Beijing, Shanghai, Yunnan,
Sichuan,
Guangxi, Guizhou, Guangzhou, Henan, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Hunan)
[E-drug invites GSK and/or Merck to respond to this letter. Maybe one of the
4 E-drug readers at GSK or one of the 10 E-drug readers at merck.com could
send the companies' reply to e-drug@healthnet.org ?
WB]
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