E-DRUG: Sources & prices of HIV/AIDS medicines & diagnostics
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Dear E-Druggers,
We would like to inform you that the June 2005 report of "Sources and Prices of Selected Medicines and Diagnostics for People living with HIV/AIDS" was recently released. The report provides market information on over 90 reviewed products for the treatment and
management of HIV/AIDS from 76 manufacturers from 28 countries. It gives purchasers of
AIDS medicines and diagnostics a range of choices related to suppliers and affordability. The medicines included were selected on the basis of WHO standard treatment guidelines. The list is not exhaustive but covers the most commonly used HIV/AIDS medicines, with paediatric forms included wherever possible.
This report is the sixth in a series of annual publications of sources
and prices surveys commenced in 1999 by UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and Medecins
Sans Frontieres (MSF). The present edition is the result of a survey carried
out from December 2004 through to January 2005.
The report includes antiretroviral (ARV) medicines, medicines used to
treat a range of opportunistic infections, medicines for use in palliative
care, medicines for the treatment of HIV-related cancers and for the
management of opioid dependence. It also provides information on a range of test
kits for the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS and for the monitoring of ARV therapy and
drug resistance.
The report has also a section on registration status of products and information
about registered products per country which is available on CD-ROM in
the report. This information will be useful for countries that are in the process of
granting market authorization to HIV/AIDS related products.
Finally, the eighth edition of the MSF document, "Untangling the Web of
Price Reductions: a pricing guide for the purchase of ARVs for developing
countries", June 2005, has been included as an annex. The report presents in a tabular format the prices offered for ARV medicines by pharmaceutical companies
specifically for developing countries. Since not all countries are eligible for the lowest
prices offered, the report also provides the conditions countries will have to meet to obtain ARVs at the given prices.
Sources and Prices 2005 will become available on the following websites:
UNICEF: <http://www.unicef.org>
UNAIDS: <http://www.unaids.org>
MSF: <http://www.accessmed-msf.org>
WHO EDM: <http://www.who.int/medicines>
WHO HIV: <http://www.who.int/hiv>
and can also be downloaded from the WHO Fact Sheet "Drug Price Information Services: What is WHO doing to improve drug price information?"
http://www.who.int/medicines/organization/par/ipc/drugpriceinfo.shtml
A French version will be available soon.
On behalf of the collaborating organizations,
Marthe M Everard
Technical Officer
Policy, Access, and Rational Use (PAR)
Medicines Policy and Standards (PSM)
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel : # 41 22 791 3835
Fax: # 41 22 791 4167
E-mail: everardm@who.int
www.who.int/medicines