A new report by the World Health Organisation in the style of a glossy but hard hitting brochure aims to draw attention to the global tuberculosis epidemic that has been spurred by the spread of HIV and multidrug resistant tuberculosis strains. The report aims to underline the programme’s call for free anti-tuberculosis drugs, which have proved highly effective in curing tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection and AIDS.
Equity in Health
WHO report calls for free anti-tuberculosis drugs for AIDS patients
World Bank warns of AIDS economic crisis
Some African countries may face complete collapse as a reult of the economic impact of HIV/AIDS being far worse than was previously thought. The World Bank's newly-released "The Long-Run Economic Costs of AIDS," study has warned that HIV/AIDS could destroy an economy within a few generations. Shanta Devarajan, World Bank economist, said in a statement: "If nothing is done to avert the epidemic, countries like South Africa could suffer a 50 percent decline in their per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in about 90 years."
ACTION PLEDGED ON AIDS DRUGS
South Africa's health system will soon offer drugs blocking the Aids virus, the body that advises the government on HIV/Aids has said. The South African National Aids Council (Sanac) made the announcement following a meeting with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - a group that has been urging the government to supply the drugs.
AFRICAN NATIONS TO LOBBY ON GENERIC DRUGS
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Africa's major free trade bloc, plans to lobby the United States and pharmaceutical companies for the right to produce generic antiretroviral drugs, according to the group's secretary general, Reuters reports. COMESA Secretary-General Erastus Mwencha said that patent disputes in the World Trade Organisation are "robbing the region of a key weapon against AIDS," according to Reuters.
AIDS CASH FOR AFRICA WILL MAINLY GO TO DRUG COMPANIES
Leaders of the world's richest countries agreed at the G8 summit to provide billions of dollars to help fight AIDS in Africa but, under present trade rules, much of that cash will go to multinational pharmaceutical companies. To the disappointment of pressure groups monitoring the summit, the leaders failed to make progress on new trade rules to allow poor countries to buy cheap, generic versions of new medicines - including the drugs which arrest AIDS.
AIDS drugs on street corners in malawi
Malawi's government has issued a warning to vendors involved in the illegal sale of HIV/AIDS drugs, the Malawi Standard newspaper reported. Despite calls for their arrest, the informal businesses have maintained that these were the benefits of a liberal economy. However, the Registrar of the Pharmacies, Medicines and Poisons Board, Patrick Tembo, said: "Liberalisation doesn't mean trading in pharmaceutical drugs. It is illegal. Only registered institutions like hospitals and pharmacies are allowed to sell pharmaceutical drugs."
BUSH'S LOOK TO BIG PHARMA FOR AIDS CZAR EVOKES CONCERN
U.S. President George W. Bush's surprise pick of a former top executive of a major U.S. pharmaceutical company and major Republican contributor as his global AIDS co-ordinator has drawn expressions of concern and even outrage among Africa and AIDS activists.
LACK OF DRUG REGULATION 'SPURS HIV RESISTANCE'
The unregulated supply of AIDS drugs in the developing world could accelerate the development of drug-resistant HIV strains, according to an expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. Better regulation of private-sector providers of drugs in poor nations is needed to ensure that patients use antiretroviral drugs correctly, thereby reducing the risk that a strain of drug-resistant HIV will develop.
NEW INITIATIVE TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOP DRUGS FOR THE WORLD’S MOST NEGLECTED DISEASES
The Nobel Prize winning Organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and four eminent public research institutes from around the world have joined forces to address the lack of research and development in drugs for neglected diseases. A mere 10% of global health research is devoted to diseases that account for 90% of the global disease burden.
QUESTIONS PROMPT REVIEW OF DIRTY NEEDLES' ROLE IN AFRICAN HIV INFECTIONS
Questions about what percentage of Africa's HIV infections are caused by dirty needles has prompted U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson -- who is also the chairman of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria -- to order a review of all research linking HIV/AIDS and medical injections, Associated Press has reported. The review could affect how funding from the $15 billion U.S. initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean is distributed, AP reported.