"The private pharmaceutical industry remains the most important source for the global supply of ARVs today. While the research-based pharmaceutical companies have been responsible for development of many of the medicines used to treat HIV/AIDS, the generic industry for its part has contributed enormously to making widespread treatment possible in the developing world, because of their innovative fixed dose combination tablets (FDCs) and their more affordable prices relative to their brand-name equivalents. FDCs mean that all the required medicines can be combined into one pill which often patients take just once or twice a day."
Equity and HIV/AIDS
The pharmaceutical industry and access to ARVs in Africa
Health Action International Briefing Paper
Elusive trail of AIDS funds to NGOs in Africa
Reuters news report
Where have the billions of dollars poured into Africa to fight AIDS gone? A lot of this money is channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) mainly to pay for life-prolonging drugs and education campaigns on a continent where many national healthcare systems are broke and in tatters. Donors increasingly prefer to fund NGOs rather than African governments, many of which are seen as corrupt. But because the NGOs number in the thousands, it is unclear how much money they have received or how it was used.
Food and nutrition implications of antiretroviral therapy in resource limited settings
Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA)
This technical note from the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project provides information and guidance about the food and nutrition implications of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource limited settings. It discusses the effects of food on medication efficacy, the effects of medication on nutrient utilisation, the effects of medication side effects on food consumption, and unhealthy side effects caused by medication and certain foods. It also outlines ways to manage the effects of these drug-food interactions, with a particular focus on food security constraints in resource limited settings.
Hunger crisis: learning from southern Africa
Id21 Research Highlight
How is the HIV/AIDS pandemic affecting food security in Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique? How can humanitarian agencies speed up their response to hunger crisis in Africa? These are just two of many questions emerging from an independent evaluation of the 2002-2003 Disasters Emergency Committee Southern Africa Crisis Appeal. In 2001, abnormal rains led to flooding and water logging, substantially reducing maize production. Unable to store maize, farmers were forced to sell at low prices early in the season, and buy back at inflated prices later. The food crisis situation in Malawi - combined with chronic poverty, HIV/AIDS, poor governance, political instability, and misguided market reforms of neighboring countries – led to catastrophe throughout the region.
HIV/AIDS and rural livelihoods – communicating NGO good practice
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is deeply affecting rural livelihoods. The loss of adults of a working age means lower agricultural production, more households being headed by elderly people or children, and a breakdown in transmission of agricultural skills. The innovative experiences of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in responding to these needs have rarely been documented or disseminated.
Is poverty or wealth at the root of HIV?
The Lancet 2005
"Poverty and lack of economic opportunity are commonly cited as important contributors to the AIDS epidemic. Thus recent findings from the Tanzania 2003–04 HIV/AIDS indicator survey may come as a surprise. The evidence is just the opposite. This nationally representative survey measured wealth in terms of physical characteristics of the household and household possessions. Household wealth is strongly positively related to HIV prevalence." (Requires registration)
Rationing Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV/AIDS
In the past three years, expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS has become a global objective and a national priority for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Large-scale treatment programs have been launched in countries spanning the continent from Lesotho to Ghana, paid for by domestic funds mobilized by African governments and by international donor contributions. While these funds, which reach into the billions of dollars, will pay for ART for many thousands of HIV-positive Africans, there is almost no chance that African countries will have the human, infrastructural, or financial resources to treat everyone who is in need.
Using research to promote gender and equity in the provision of anti-retroviral therapy in Malawi
This paper explores the importance of using research to promote gender and equity in the provision of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the importance of operational research in advocating for programmes that are gender sensitive and can contribute to overall national economic growth and poverty reduction. The paper uses a synthesis of the findings of research in Malawi on how gender roles and relations affect access and adherence to anti-retroviral therapy and to illustrate how these can be used to advocate for more equitable policy and practice.
Africa anti-AIDS drug price-cut announced
Developing countries will be paying less for two anti-AIDS drugs produced by multinational pharmaceutical company, Gilead Sciences. In a statement Gilead said it had dropped the cost of Viread by 31 percent and that of Truvada by 12 percent. Both medications are already sold at no-profit prices in 97 developing countries around the world.
Community based organisations and HIV/AIDS
The crucial role played by Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in the fight against HIV/AIDS is far from being recognized, says a report from SIDACTION. Until now, there was neither a record of what these organizations were doing nor any formalized description of the different kinds of activities which help facilitate access to treatment, so as to demonstrate the potential they might represent in terms of ARV access. SIDACTION sent out a concise questionnaire to more than a thousand organizations. Within a few weeks we received more than 300 responses from organizations expressing an interest in HIV care, treatment and support. There were many contrasts among the responses to the Community Access study conducted by SIDACTION: Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya accounted for 60 of the 300 continent-wide organizations that stated that they provide HIV care services.