E-DRUG: Kenya lacks money for buying cheap ARVs
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[From Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report; see kaisernetwork.org
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Kenyan Government Lacks Money for Antiretrovirals Even After Passage
of Drug Importation Bill
The Kenyan government announced yesterday that it does not have
enough money to purchase antiretroviral drugs, even though the Kenyan
Parliament recently passed legislation allowing the nation to import
and manufacture cheaper generic drugs, East African Standard/BBC
Monitoring reports (East African Standard/BBC Monitoring, 9/13). The
Kenyan Parliament in June passed the Industrial Properties Bill 2001,
which allows Kenya to "suspend drug patent rights" in a national
health emergency to import into or produce within the country less
expensive generic medicines. The bill stipulates that Kenya give drug
makers six months' notice before licensing other companies to import
or produce generic versions of patented drugs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS
Report, 6/13). Dr. Richard Muga, director of the Kenyan Department of
Medical Services, said that the government hopes to receive money for
AIDS drugs from the U.N. Global AIDS and Health Fund. The East Afri-
can Standard/BBC Monitoring reports that the government's statements
yesterday "dealt a big blow to people living with AIDS who had hoped
that the passing of the bill would make drugs more accessible" (East
African Standard/BBC Monitoring, 9/13).
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