Former United States President Bill Clinton has announced a deal with four generic-drug companies to slash the price of AIDS drugs in parts of the developing world. The agreement with three Indian pharmaceutical firms and a South African company will cut the price of a commonly used triple-drug treatment by almost a third, to about US$ 0.38 a day per patient. They include nine countries in the Caribbean and the African nations of Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania.
Equity in Health
HIV/AIDS - A PROGRESS REPORT
Using the mandates of the UN General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in 2001, the UNAIDS Secretariat and Cosponsors collaboratively developed a series of global/ regional and national indicators to measure the global community's progress in reaching the Declaration's targets in line with the Millennium Development Goals. This report, by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS, which presents data from the first use of these indicators, represents the most comprehensive assessment to date of the state of global, regional and national responses on the broad range of challenges posed by HIV/AIDS.
Making one billion count: investing in adolescents\\
Over 1.2 billion adolescents - one person in five - are making the transition from childhood to adulthood. How well they are prepared to face adult challenges in a fast changing world will shape humanity's common future. Adolescents must be enabled to avoid early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS while being given skills, opportunities and a real say in development plans, stresses The State of World Population 2003 report by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Maternal deaths disproportionately high in developing countries
New findings on maternal mortality by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA show that a woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth. This compares with a 1 in 2,800 risk for a woman from a developed region. These findings are contained in a new global report on maternal mortality just released online by the three agencies.
RISING COSTS OF MEDICAL DRUGS IMPACTS ON POOR in Zimbabwe
The cost of health care in Zimbabwe finally went beyond the reach of most people this month when medical drug suppliers and pharmacies hiked prices by more than 1,000 percent, citing an increase by the same margin in import costs.
U.N. Report Outlines Devastating Cross-Sectoral Impact of AIDS
An October report released by the U.N. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs said HIV/AIDS will continue to have devastating consequences for decades to come for virtually every sector of society and that in many countries the disease is undermining achievements of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.
WHO Hopes To Provide 3-in-1 AIDS Pill To Poor Nations
The World Health Organisation was due to reveal the first details of its global strategy to bring low-cost HIV/AIDS drugs to 3 million people in poor countries towards the end of October, a plan that top officials said will eventually include endorsement of pills that combine three antiretroviral drugs in a single tablet, the Washington Post reported.
zimbabwe doctors want 8 000% pay increase
Doctors at Zimbabwe's government hospitals have gone on an indefinite strike demanding an 8 000 percent pay increase, their union leader Phibion Manyanga said late in October. Manyanga, who heads the Hospital Doctors Association, told AFP that the strike would go on until their demands were addressed.
13th ICASA winds to a close
The take home messages rang loud and clear at the closing of the 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) as speaker after speaker representing different constituencies challenged African leaders, Western governments and multilateral organisations to reappraise their commitment to reducing the spread of HIV.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30000
access for 3m by 2005
Will it be possible to meet the WHO goal of three million people having access to antiretrovirals by 2005? Speaking at a roundtable discussion on 'Issues and debates in HIV testing' at the 13th ICASA, Nairobi, Kenya, Dr Catherine Sozi of UNAIDS said that 30 million HIV positive people would have to be identified and 300 million people tested at a cost of US$1.8 billion.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30004