[Ip-health] MSF: People Not Getting the Treatment They Need to Stay Alive

[Sheila.SHETTLE@geneva.msf.org]

People Not Getting the Treatment They Need to Stay Alive=0D
               Newer AIDS Drugs Unaffordable and Unavailable=0D
=0D
Geneva, 29 November 2006 =E2=80=93 AIDS treatment in the developing world w=
ill not=0D
be sustainable unless international institutions get serious about the high=
=0D
cost of newer medicines, the international medical humanitarian=0D
organisation M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res (MSF) warned today.  Five m=
onths=0D
after the World Health Organization (WHO) released updated AIDS treatment=
=0D
guidelines that recommend the use of newer and improved drugs in developing=
=0D
countries, the organisation has failed to outline a strategy to help=0D
countries access these drugs, which remain largely inaccessible in=0D
developing countries.=0D
=0D
New WHO-recommended drug regimens for patients starting treatment can be up=
=0D
to six times more expensive than today=E2=80=99s most commonly used combina=
tion.=0D
In addition, due to drug resistance or side effects, people on=0D
antiretroviral treatment eventually need to switch to newer drugs.  In the=
=0D
case of resistance, people need to receive entirely new drug combinations,=
=0D
or face becoming sick again and dying. This =E2=80=9Csecond-line=E2=80=9D t=
herapy can be up=0D
to 50 times more expensive.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9COur experience over the last year has told us two things. First, t=
reatment=0D
costs are going to rise massively in the coming years unless something is=
=0D
done about high drug prices. Second, we cannot rely on pharmaceutical=0D
companies to solve this problem. We need drastic changes in strategy,=E2=80=
=9D said=0D
Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of MSF=E2=80=99s Campaign for Access =
to=0D
Essential Medicines. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s clear as day that at current pri=
ces, the cost of=0D
accessing newer drugs will bankrupt treatment programmes, but governments,=
=0D
industry, and multilateral agencies are doing far too little to address the=
=0D
issue.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Currently, MSF provides antiretroviral therapy to over 80,000 patients in=
=0D
65 projects in more than 30 countries. Data from MSF=E2=80=99s programme in=
 South=0D
Africa, which is one of the organisation=E2=80=99s longest running treatmen=
t=0D
programmes, shows that 17.4% of people who have been on treatment for five=
=0D
years have had to switch to second-line therapy.  In Malawi, where MSF has=
=0D
11,000 people on AIDS treatment, it is estimated that roughly 1,600 people=
=0D
will need to switch to newer drug combinations in three years, which will=
=0D
take up 70% of the entire treatment budget.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CAIDS treatment became a reality in the developing world because of=
 the=0D
availability of affordable generic drugs,=E2=80=9D said Dr. von Schoen-Ange=
rer.=0D
=E2=80=9CTreatment programmes will fail unless a continual supply of generi=
c=0D
versions of newer medicines is also guaranteed.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Generic competition since 2000 helped bring down prices of certain=0D
first-line AIDS drugs by 99%, from $10,000 to roughly $130 per patient per=
=0D
year.  Yet prices for newer drugs will remain high primarily due to=0D
increased patent barriers in key generic-producing countries like India.=0D
On top of cost, newer medicines often are not marketed in developing=0D
countries.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CMany newer drugs are not even available where we work, because com=
panies=0D
do not make a priority of registering them,=E2=80=9D said Dr. Moses Massaqu=
oi of=0D
MSF in Malawi. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s simply unacceptable that we have to wa=
it many years to=0D
use medicines that are commonly used in wealthy countries, if we get them=
=0D
at all.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Tenofovir, one of the most commonly prescribed AIDS drugs in wealthy=0D
countries and one of the drugs recommended by WHO, was approved for use in=
=0D
the US in 2001, but Gilead, the manufacturer, has only registered it in=0D
roughly 15 of 97 developing countries that qualify for the company=E2=80=99=
s=0D
reduced pricing. Abbott launched an improved version of one of its=0D
antiretrovirals =E2=80=93 heat stable lopinavir/ritonavir  =E2=80=93 over a=
 year ago in the=0D
US, but the drug is still not registered in a single developing country,=0D
even though the new formulation is much better adapted to tropical=0D
settings. For most developing countries outside of Africa, such as Thailand=
=0D
and Guatemala, the company has announced a price of $2,200 per year, which=
=0D
is far more than the average annual income in those countries.=0D
=0D
A high-level meeting of WHO, UNAIDS and the World Bank concluding today in=
=0D
Washington, DC has failed to address the fact that pharmaceutical patents=
=0D
continue to drive the price of treatment up.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CDonor money should not be squandered to pay for overpriced drugs. =
The=0D
priority is to make drug prices come down as much as possible,=E2=80=9D sai=
d Dr.=0D
von Schoen-Angerer.  =E2=80=9CInternational organizations, donors and indus=
try must=0D
overhaul their strategies to ensure that universal access to AIDS treatment=
=0D
for life becomes a reality =E2=80=93 this means confronting companies and t=
heir=0D
patents.=E2=80=9D=0D
                                    ###=0D
=0D
                        MSF and HIV/AIDS Treatment:=0D
MSF began providing HIV/AIDS prevention and care services in the 1990s.  In=
=0D
2000, MSF introduced antiretroviral therapy in its projects in Thailand,=0D
South Africa, and Cameroon.=0D
=0D
=0D
+++++++++++++++++++++=0D
Sheila Shettle=0D
Senior Communications Officer=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res=0D
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines=0D
Rue de Lausanne 78=0D
1211 Geneva=0D
Switzerland=0D
+ 41.22.849.8403=0D
+ 41.79.293.0270 (m.)=0D
sheila.shettle@geneva.msf.org=0D
www.accessmed-msf.org=0D
=0D