[Ip-health] MSF press release: WHO supports use of twice-a-day pill for AIDS

[Sean.HEALY@geneva.msf.org]

WHO supports use of twice-a-day pill for AIDS

                 More ambition needed to bring prices down




Geneva, 1 December 2003 ? M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res (MSF) welcome the
ambitious objectives unveiled by the World Health Organisation today to get
three million people with AIDS on treatment by 2005. WHO has immediately
moved closer to meeting this target by announcing that a quality-assured
twice-a-day pill is available to treat AIDS.

Getting AIDS medicines to the millions who need it requires treatment
models that are much better adapted to resource-poor settings. "Reducing
the number of pills that patients have to take makes treatment much simpler
and more affordable" says Dr Morten Rostrup, President of the International
Council of MSF.

The twice-a-day pill, which combines 3 different medicines, is made by
different generics companies. Today, Cipla is offering this for $US 140 to
a number of organisations, including MSF. Quality has been assured by the
WHO pre-qualification process. The vast majority of the 9,000 patients
currently treated by MSF's AIDS programmes will benefit from the latest
price reduction.

However, in their plan to fight AIDS, WHO's target price for treatment is
$US 400 for 2004. "WHO's drug price targets lack ambition and do not
reflect prices that are currently available. Today, drug prices have fallen
by another 50%. WHO should encourage this trend in order that universal
access to AIDS treatment become a reality," says Dr Rostrup.

To date the brand pharmaceutical companies have not co-operated to combine
their medicines into a single pill; only generics companies offer these
products. Governments must therefore make use of the safeguards in their
patent laws to overcome patent barriers to accessing these simple and
affordable medicines.

"Every time drug prices comes down, more people can afford treatment," said
Dr Rostrup. "But for the poorest, no price will be affordable: governments
of both developing and developed countries must meet these costs. This
means more international funding to fight AIDS."