Global Fund led pact to source generic AIDS drugs from India

Thursday, 08 April 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: A global grouping has announced its decision to purchase AIDS medicines from India and South Africa but the pharma majors and NGOs remain unclear about its details. The Global Fund, the World Bank, Unicef and the Clinton Foundation had jointly announced this decision Tuesday. Other than the US, the Global Fund and the World Bank are among the world's largest sources of funding commitments for the AIDS treatment programmes. The US has been opposing the generic drugs from India, South Africa and other developing countries on the question of quality. Former US president Bill Clinton in a preliminary round of talks early this year had received a commitment from some of the WHO-approved drug suppliers to make AIDS drugs available at $140 a patient in a year, nearly 50 percent less than the branded version. The five companies short-listed by the Clinton Foundation include Aspen Pharmacare Holdings in South Africa and the remaining four are from India - Cipla, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Hetero Drugs Ltd and Matrix Laboratories. These companies have already been making AIDS antiretroviral drugs, which are available to the 16 countries in the Caribbean and Africa where the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative is active. When contacted Wednesday, a Ranbaxy spokesperson said, "We are in discussions with the Clinton Foundation for extending our programme for supply of AIDS drugs across the country and to other countries as part of our corporate social responsibility." He, however, said "no deals have as yet been finalised". During discussions with the Clinton Foundation, the Indian companies had agreed to supply the fixed dose combination drugs at $140 a person in a year subject to certain conditions. Officials at the WHO regional office here too were unclear about the latest developments. They felt the decision to source approved generic quality drugs would enable millions of people in developing countries to benefit. Under the new pact, countries will be required to provide guarantees of payment, conduct long-term tenders and ensure the security of drug distribution. The Global Fund, the World Bank and Unicef will support their funding recipients in complying with these terms, as consistent with their policies and existing practices. The Global Fund focuses more than 60 percent of the $2.1 billion committed for two years to 122 countries to fight AIDS. The World Bank has currently committed $1.6 billion to fight AIDS while UNICEF spent $111 million during 2003 in the fight against AIDS and is rapidly accelerating the procurement of antiretroviral medicines and AIDS diagnostic equipment and tests for developing countries. The diagnostic tests included in these agreements are offered by five leading medical technology companies and include CD4 tests from Beckman Coulter, Inc. and BD (Becton Dickinson and Company) and viral load tests from Bayer Diagnostics, bioMérieux and Roche Diagnostics. In an official statement, Clinton said, "We are hopeful that developing countries and those who support them in the fight against AIDS will take full advantage of this agreement and act quickly to do all they can to help in this fight."
Source: IANS
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