E-DRUG: SADC Health Ministers meet pharmaceutical industry
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[crossposted from Treatment-Access with thanks;
The Reuters article omitted to mention that Botswana announced during the
meeting that it was planning for distribution of anti-retrovirals to its
AIDS patients in the public sector before the end of the year. This after
they had been distributing AZT for 2 years in the MTCT programme. NN]
African Ministers Say AIDS Drugs Too Costly
By Steven Swindells (Reuters)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - African health ministers wrapped up an
unprecedented meeting with seven of the most powerful drug firms Friday,
saying anti-AIDS drugs were still too expensive for their governments facing
a devastating AIDS epidemic.
Ministers from 11 southern African states, many of which have the highest
rates of HIV-infection rates in the world, welcomed a series of recent price
discounts announced by the drug industry but said more had to be done before
they could hope to provide proper treatment to its people.
Drug firms Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp&Dohme, Pfizer,
Roche Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim and Abbot -- makers of some of the most
important AIDS drugs -- were represented at the meeting in Pretoria.
``Most ministers indicated that, even with the present drug discounts, the
magnitude of the epidemic in their countries put anti-retroviral therapy way
beyond their health budgets,'' a joint statement by the African states said.
``Considerable external funding would be required to make this a sustainable
option,'' the ministers said.
Drug resistance and a lack of health infrastructure also compounded the
question of affordability, they said.
Health officials close to the talks said that the meeting succeeded in
bringing together governments and the drug industry for the first time since
a controversial court case when 39 of the biggest drug giants tried
unsuccessfully to stop South Africa importing cheap medicines.
The drug companies withdrew from the Pretoria court action after a public
relations disaster which saw AIDS activists accuse the firms of putting
profits ahead of the lives of the 25 million Africans who are HIV-positive.
A STEP FORWARD
``Nothing concrete was achieved but it was the first of what is expected to
be further meeting to develop a working relationship,'' said one African
health official who declined to be named.
Ministers welcomed the drug companies' pricing initiatives and called for
greater consultation, but noted that companies adopted different eligibility
criteria for offering discounted drugs to different African countries.
In a separate statement, the drug firms described the talks as a positive
step forward and committed themselves to providing solutions.
``The drug companies renewed their commitment to increasing access to
HIV-AIDS medicines in sub-Saharan Africa,'' the statement said.
The 11 African countries at the talks were Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe. One out of every five adults in many of these countries is HIV
positive. The vast majority of these have no access to vital AIDS drugs or
medicines to treat diseases associated with the disease, such as
tuberculosis.
Though some leading companies have offered steep price discounts on their
products as part of a United Nations-backed program, the amount of key
anti-AIDS drugs such as antiretrovirals getting to patients is still
inadequate.
Few African states have the necessary infrastructure to properly distribute
and monitor antiretroviral or other medicines used to try and improve the
quality of life for AIDS sufferers.
Africa is at the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic that has killed 22 million
people since the first cases of the disease were reported 20 years ago.
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- A posting from treatment-access@hivnet.ch
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