[Ip-health] AP: McCain, Kennedy, and Waxman on PEPFAR and generic drugs

[Asia Russell]

Lawmakers Urge Acceptance of WHO Approvals for Overseas AIDS Drugs
The Associated Press
Published: Mar 26, 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) -The White House should not push for more stringent
standards on lower-cost AIDS drugs to be used to combat the disease in
Africa, because the World Health Organization already has approved the
medicines, lawmakers said Friday.

Setting up an American system when WHO has approved the drugs would delay
delivery of AIDS medicines to people who need them, said Rep. Henry Waxman,
D-Calif., and Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., in
separate letters to the White House.

"Make no mistake, delays will cost lives," Kennedy and McCain said in their
letter.

Waxman accused the White House of putting the consideration of American drug
companies above getting generic low-cost medicines, most of which are made
in India, to dying Africans.

"These pharmaceutical companies are among your strongest political
supporters," Waxman said. "They should not be dictating policy on U.S.
efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and elsewhere."

At issue is a scheduled meeting in Botswana to discuss whether stringent
safety and efficiency standards should be applied to "fixed-dose
combination" drugs, which combine several different treatments for the
disease into one pill.

Some of these medicines already have been cleared by the WHO, but some Bush
administration officials have suggested an American review system is
necessary. The American proposal will be discussed in Botswana March 29-30.

The lawmakers said WHO's standards are sometimes higher than the American
standards, and trying to set up another review system will just slow down
attempts to get low-cost drugs to African countries.


--
Asia Russell
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
asia@healthgap.org
+1 267 475 2645 mobile
+1 215 474 9329 office
http://www.healthgap.org