Could drug companies help win the fight against AIDS?January 23, 2002Drug companies could influence the fight against the AIDS epidemic by reducing the cost of HIV drugs in poor countries to zero, writes Donald Berwick in this week's BMJ. He argues that modern drugs can improve the lives of people with HIV by years, even decades, yet their high costs are often used as an excuse for poor countries not to develop effective infrastructures for the care of patients. Richard Sykes, chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, says that it is easy - although misguided - to assume that cost is the main barrier to people in poor countries having greater access to effective drugs. His company offers its medicines to poor countries at prices up to 90% lower than those charged in rich countries, yet he has not seen a considerable uptake in the use of these medicines. The international community's lack of political will to provide drugs to people with HIV and AIDS is a greater danger than the South African President's belief that poverty is the cause of AIDS, argues Zackie Achmat of South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign. He believes that a global health fund will be a start in providing treatment, supporting HIV prevention efforts, demonstrating political commitment, and reaffirming the principle that everyone has the rights to life, freedom, dignity, and equality. British Medical Journal (BMJ) |
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| Related AIDS Current Events and AIDS News Articles Multiple health concerns surface as winter, vitamin D deficiences arrive A string of recent discoveries about the multiple health benefits of vitamin D has renewed interest in this multi-purpose nutrient, increased awareness of the huge numbers of people who are deficient in it, spurred research and even led to an appreciation of it as "nature's antibiotic." AIDS research reveals a lack of family-planning programs in Uganda University of Alberta graduate student Jennifer Heys wants to make her message clear: there needs to be more education in Ugandan communities about contraception. Many pregnant women avoid HIV screening in Africa 'Prevention is the best cure' is a common expression, but what happens if preventative measures are not used? A large proportion of pregnant Ugandan women are going out of their way not to be HIV tested, increasing the risk of mother-to-child transmission. An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity. UAB Researchers Discover Antibody Receptor Identity, Propose Renaming Immune-System Gene Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have uncovered the genetic identity of a cellular receptor for the immune system's first-response antibody, a discovery that sheds new light on infection control and immune disorders. UCLA study shows brain's ability to reorganize Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide. Research calls for better assessment of tests for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria A rapid and accurate diagnosis is the first step towards treatment in the fight against infectious disease. Prioritizing low-cost, simple health measures would save 2.5 million child lives a year Almost a third of the children under age five who die each year could be saved if governments rebalance health spending to ensure low-cost, simple interventions such as safe water and hygiene, bed nets and basic maternal and newborn care, leading aid agency World Vision said today. Currently, 8.8 million children a year die before age five, most of preventable causes. No-entry zones for AIDS virus The AIDS virus inserts its genetic material into the genome of the infected cell. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center have now shown for the first time that the virus almost entirely spares particular sites in the human genetic material in this process. This finding may be useful for developing new, specific AIDS drugs. Hoping for a fluorescent basket case Although recent advances have raised hopes that a protective vaccine can be developed, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains a major public health problem. More AIDS Current Events and AIDS News Articles |
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