E-DRUG: Press Review Botswana FDC meeting
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Africa AIDS Conferees Seek US Shift On AIDS Drugs
Medical authorities from around the world met in Botswana this week to
chart a path through new territory: how best to judge the safety and
effectiveness of relatively cheap, mostly generic drugs that could vastly
expand AIDS treatment in poor countries, reports The International Herald
Tribune.
But some participants said they hope the meeting has a more direct result:
to persuade the Bush administration to pay for generic drugs for people
with HIV, rather than insisting that American assistance be spent on more
expensive patented drugs. The Bush administration has pledged $15 billion
over the next five years to fight AIDS in 14 African countries and the
Caribbean. At least initially, the administration says it wants this money
to be spent on patented drugs approved by federal regulators to ensure
that the medicines are safe and effective. But AIDS activists argue that
the administration is protecting the American pharmaceutical industry.
The two-day conference, held in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, drew dozens
of regulators, aid workers, health officials and pharmaceutical
executives. They drafted principles to help regulators and drug companies
evaluate the cheaper drug combinations to treat AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis. The World Health Organization has certified four anti-AIDS
drugs as safe and effective. Three are generic drugs produced by Indian
companies. Not only are the generic compounds cheaper than brand-name
pills, medical experts said, but they are easier for patients to take.
Instead of taking six brand-name pills a day, a patient need take only two
generic tablets. Lembit Rago, the coordinator for quality assurance and
safety of medicines for the WHO, said the UN agency has evaluated the
drugs in much the same way as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
certifies the brand-name drugs. American officials, however, say the UN
agency's review is insufficient to ensure that the medications will not
lead to a drug-resistant strain of AIDS.
The Nation (Kenya) notes that AIDS activists and treatment providers
believe the Gaborone meeting has been organized to question WHO's approval
process, by drawing in experts from the pharmaceutical industry to claim
that the scheme, which is supported by top-notch public health experts, is
inadequate and unsafe. In an open letter to the US Government, organizers
M�decins sans Fronti�res South Africa, MSF-USA and the Campaign for Access
to Essential Medicines have sought a clarification on the objectives of
the conference. The letter is copied to the other co-sponsors of the
conference?UNAIDS, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and
the WHO. Paul Zeitz, the executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance,
also took issue with a Bush AIDS initiative report, saying: "It's
remarkable how little new there is in this document and how vague it is on
some of the most critical issues." "For an issue the administration
repeatedly says is on a par with terrorism in importance, the narrow
country focus and the lack of specificity is quite disturbing," he said.
The Namibian writes that an HIV/AIDS project targeting agricultural sector
was launched by Namibia's Ministry of Labor this week. The project, which
is being conducted in partnership with the Hope Project, will home in on
communal and commercial farmers in the Omusati, Oshana, Ohangwena,
Oshikoto regions as well as the Aussenkehr grape farms in the Karas
Region. It will involve farmers and workers in aiming to reduce the stigma
and discrimination that often surrounds HIV/AIDS, as well as raise
awareness. The project is being financially supported by the United States
Department of Labor.
Also, the Irish Times announces that peace and development in Africa will
be among the issues for discussion between the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Brian Cowen, and his counterparts from Mozambique and South
Africa at an EU-African Union Troika meeting in Farmleigh today. It is one
of the declared objectives of Ireland's European presidency to ensure that
African issues are placed high on the EU agenda and to "revitalize"
EU-African co-operation. Poverty, conflict and the spread of HIV/AIDS are
among the main items of concern.
In other news, WMRC Daily Analysis writes that the Nigerian federal
government is considering changing its malaria treatment policy after
recommendations from the WHO. Nigeria currently adheres to chloroquine as
its front-line treatment, despite evidence of resistance to it from the
falciparum parasite. Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) combination is used
in cases of treatment failure and quinine is reserved for severe cases.
The WHO is recommending use of artemisinin-based combination therapy.
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