E-DRUG: Annan Discusses AIDS Drug Discounts with Drug Companies
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[Did anyone see any outcomes of this friday meeting?
Copied as fair use. NN]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20011005/hl/annan_1.html
Annan Renews Push for Lower AIDS Treatment Costs
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with top
officials of seven major drug companies on Thursday to renew efforts to
bring
down the cost of treating AIDS in the world's poorest countries, a spokesman
said.
The meeting focused on improving access to AIDS drugs, lowering drug prices,
expanding treatment capabilities and encouraging private-sector help in the
global
fight against AIDS, chief UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
The talks were the latest in a series between Annan and drug company
executives on the subject of how to make AIDS therapies more accessible in
the world's
poorest areas.
The secretary-general has made AIDS a top priority for the world body,
focusing on the least-developed nations, particularly those in Africa where
infection rates
are the world's highest.
Attending the talks for the first time was US drug maker Merck & Co., which
had not participated in earlier sessions although it had been invited to do
so, UN
officials said.
Others attending Thursday's talks were US firms Abbott Laboratories Inc.,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc.; Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim
International
AG; Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc; and Switzerland's Hoffman-LaRoche, a unit
of Roche Holding AG.
The meeting was intended to follow up on an April 5 meeting in Amsterdam at
which Annan won agreement from six major drug companies to keep cutting
prices of
AIDS treatments for the world's poorest nations, Eckhard said.
The drug industry has come under intense pressure to improve access to
life-saving treatments in poor nations for those infected with HIV, the
virus that causes
AIDS.
The epidemic has hit hardest in Africa, where more than 25 million people
are infected, according to UN figures. Worldwide, some 36 million people
have been
infected with HIV.
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