[Pharm-policy] African Leaders Back Less Costly AIDS Drugs,More Spending

[James Love]

Thanks to top for this note.


Subject: 
        AP: African Leaders Back Less Costly AIDS Drugs,More Spending
   Date: 
        Mon, 30 Apr 2001 09:53:10 +0200
<SNIP>
The document also encouraged African governments to use "appropriate
legislation and international trade regulations" to provide affordable and
effective AIDS drugs to those infected with the disease.
<SNIP>
Some summit observers said the declaration was significantly watered down
from a preliminary version hammered out by African ministers earlier in the
week.
The final document didn't mention a proposal to import and produce
controversial generic "copycat" HIV drugs to make treatment affordable to
Africans.
<SNIP>
The use of generic drugs has been opposed by major pharmaceutical companies
that say the practice infringes on intellectual-property-right laws and
takes business away from the manufacturers responsible for researching and
developing new drugs.
Gunther Faber, vice president of GlaxoSmithKline's operations in sub-Saharan
Africa, instead urged governments to sign cooperation agreements with the
major drug companies.

--------------------
April 27, 2001 
African Leaders Back Less Costly AIDS Drugs,More Spending
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)--African leaders signed a declaration Friday urging a
boost in spending in the fight against the AIDS pandemic, while emphasizing
the need for affordable drugs to treat the millions infected on the
continent.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, speaking at the close of a two-day
African summit on AIDS and related diseases, called the agreement the "end
of the beginning and beginning of the end" of HIV's spread in Africa, where
26 million people are infected.
"For some time, we seemed to be unsure and uncertain of what to do about
HIV/AIDS," Obasanjo said. "I believe we have come to the end of that
uncertainty with the end of this summit. We are clear in our minds of where
to go and how to go."
The document calls on the 53 African states to "target" spending an eventual
15% of national budgets on health programs, including a significant
proportion on AIDS.
Extra funds should also be committed to AIDS education, training and
research programs, the document says.
Most African countries' health spending does not exceed 5% to 7% of their
budgets. The declaration gave no timeline for the new spending target.
The document also encouraged African governments to use "appropriate
legislation and international trade regulations" to provide affordable and
effective AIDS drugs to those infected with the disease.
The virus has killed 23 million people globally, including 17 million in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Former U.S. President Clinton, who attended the summit in a private
capacity, estimated Thursday that up to 100 million more people could die in
the next decade unless the spread of the disease is stemmed.
Some summit observers said the declaration was significantly watered down
from a preliminary version hammered out by African ministers earlier in the
week.
The final document didn't mention a proposal to import and produce
controversial generic "copycat" HIV drugs to make treatment affordable to
Africans.
"The devil is in the details," said Babar Hashmi, a Pakistan government
official who was an invited observer at the summit. "The conference
participants had very laudable goals, but let's see how well they will be
able to implement them."
The use of generic drugs has been opposed by major pharmaceutical companies
that say the practice infringes on intellectual-property-right laws and
takes business away from the manufacturers responsible for researching and
developing new drugs.
Gunther Faber, vice president of GlaxoSmithKline's operations in sub-Saharan
Africa, instead urged governments to sign cooperation agreements with the
major drug companies.
Six African nations recently signed deals with leading pharmaceutical
companies offering cut-price HIV drugs. But even at reduced rates of an
estimated $300 a year per patient, the drugs remain out of reach for most
people in the region - where the price equals many families' entire yearly
earnings.
"We are seeing people die because new, lifesaving drugs are priced beyond
their reach," Bernard Pecoul, a senior official of the Medecins Sans
Frontieres medical aid group, told the summit Thursday.
Oxfam, a U.K. charity, also expressed solidarity with African governments
bidding to gain access to generic medicines.
Before the summit closed, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave an angry
one-hour speech in Arabic in which he lashed out at the U.S. government,
saying it was spending far less than it could on fighting AIDS around the
world.
Peter Piot, executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency, challenged
international lending organizations to be more generous with grants, loans
and debt relief to developing countries most severely affected by HIV.
"I am asking for an institutional behavior change from international
development organizations to treat support of AIDS programs as a
humanitarian issue," Piot said in a speech delivered Friday.
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan proposed the creation of a
global "war chest" worth $7 billion to $10 billion annually to combat the
disease in Africa and prevent a catastrophic spread through major developing
nations such as India, China and Russia. Current spending on AIDS in
developing countries totals around $1 billion annually.


-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.cptech.org
love@cptech.org
1.202.387.8030 fax 1.202.234.5176