[Pharm-policy] Panos Report - "Beyond Our Means?"

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Richard Jeffries posted this on healthgap.



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The Panos Report "BEYOND OUR MEANS? The Cost of Treating HIV/AIDS in the
Developing World" has been released, there's a whole bunch of info
including a summary document on their website. I can't find the whole
report, though. Following is a link to the website and a related Reuters
story from today.

http://www.panos.org.uk/

Poor nations pay highest prices for AIDS drugs

By Richard Woodman

http://www.ama-assn.org/special/hiv/newsline/reuters/07118271.htm

LONDON, Jul 11 (Reuters Health) - Poor nations in Africa where the
majority of HIV-infected people live sometimes pay higher prices for
antiviral drugs than rich western countries, a leading non-governmental
organisation said, as the International AIDS Conference began in South
Africa this past weekend.

The Panos Institute, which campaigns on global development issues,
released survey findings showing that the price of Lamivudine (3TC) 150
mg ranged from US$340 to $810 in Africa compared with $290 to $524 in
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

It also quoted wide variations in the price of zidovudine (AZT) 100 mg
ranging from $86 to $270 in Africa and from $143 to $278 in Europe's
OECD countries. The cost of a daily dose of Zalcitabine (ddC) ranged
from $0.24 in Brazil to $3.75 in the Ivory Coast and $4.17 in Uganda.

In a report entitled "Beyond Our Means?--The cost of treating HIV/AIDS
in the developing world," the organisation said, "In May 2000, in
response to growing demands, five of the world's largest pharmaceutical
companies and UNAIDS announced that prices in the developing world would
be drastically
reduced.

"But the warmth that greeted that announcement soon turned sour, when
only one company, Glaxo Wellcome, announced a specific price cut [in
relation to Combivir, which would sell through UNAIDS at $2 per day
compared with $16 in the US], and the other companies refused to make
specific commitments."

Panos supporters told a news conference in London that unless companies
cut prices there would be increased pressure on governments to ignore
patents and introduce compulsory licensing. They pointed to the example
of Brazil where intellectual property rights are not always respected
with the result
that generic drug companies sell the AZT/3TC combination for $1.44 per
day compared with $18.78 in the US.

They warned that these companies were willing to export drugs at similar
low prices to African countries. Another possible solution, they
suggested, was that UNAIDS should act as a bulk purchaser of low priced
drugs for the developing world.

Martin Foreman, director of the Panos Aids programme, warned that "[a]t
least 12 million people are in urgent need of treatment for AIDS. Only
if prices fall by at least 95% will antiretroviral drugs be accessible
to the majority who need them. Even then, families will have to make
tremendous
sacrifices."

None of the major companies accepted Panos' invitation to speak at the
news conference.

However, a Glaxo Wellcome spokesman told APM that the UN-led
international partnership against AIDS was the best way to expand
sustainable HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and patient care
opportunities in developing countries.

He said that the Brazilian generic producers only supplied about 20% of
the Brazilian market and therefore did not have spare capacity for
exports. In any case, he pointed out that the company's antiretrovirals
enjoy patent protection in most African countries.

AIDS Treatment Data Network
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