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afrol.com, 25 October - Senegal announced that it had become the first country to reach an agreement with a group of five pharmaceutical companies to substantially reduce the price of HIV drugs sold in Senegal. Senegal has been noted for its substantial gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In May of this year, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) announced that a dialogue had begun between several United Nations agencies and five major pharmaceutical companies to make care and treatment for AIDS more accessible and affordable in developing countries. Each of the five companies, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome, Merck & Co., Inc., and F. Hoffmann-La Roche, indicated a willingness to broaden access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS. It has been disclosed that basic medicines are more expensive in developing countries than in Europe and the US. In June this year, for example, Kirsten Myhr of Health Action International presented data that confirmed the suspicion that Kenyan drug prices "are not only equal to, but actually higher than European prices." The causes of high prices of medicines in East Africa include strong patent protection, high tariffs, taxes and a lack of generic competition, the study showed. The Senegalese agreement could, however, end this picture. UNAIDS was instrumental in negotiating this new agreement between Senegal and the companies, that are expected to reduce the price of some drugs by up to 90% as compared to the sticker price found in Europe and North America. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has commented the project by saying that "the fact that drugs will be available is a positive and really strong indication to the patients that they are not being abandoned". But, he added, "Let's not kid ourselves - the drugs alone will not do it", noting that health systems, delivery capabilities and follow-up activities also need to be improved. The medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a report earlier has demonstrated how some developing countries have already significantly reduced the prices of AIDS drugs, in particular by producing quality generic medicines. In that way, the same money could treat four times as many people in Brazil as in Uganda. There have been speculations that the willingness of the drug companies to sell HIV/AIDS drugs cheaper in Africa has been because it would be difficult to prevent the upcoming of a generic medicines industry on the continent, meaning dangerous local competition to them. The Senegalese "success story" In countries where strong political leadership, openness about the issues, and broad, cross-cutting responses came together, "the tide is turning, and clear success is being demonstrated. In Uganda, the rate of new infections is falling, and in Senegal, it has been rolled back significantly as a result of massive information and prevention campaigns," according to Piot. - Senegal had been engaged very early in a broad, multisectoral and multidisciplinary response to establish a national programme to combat the epidemic, Minister Ibra Deguène Ka stated earlier this year. "On the health level," he said, "real preventive strategies had been realized following the creation of the national committee to combat AIDS." UNAIDS estimates that there are some 79,000 Senegalese living with HIV or AIDS, of which 3,300 are children under 14 years. Last year alone, some estimated 7,800 persons died of AIDS in Senegal, according to the same estimation. Further, there are almost 30,000 orphans in Senegal that have lost both parents or their mother to the epidemic. These are, however, low numbers in an African scale, partly due to the forceful programmes to combat the disease. The new AIDS drug deal will have a further positive impact.
Sources:
Various UN sources and NGOs
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