JAKARTA, Dec 3 (AFP) - The Indonesian government will soon provide cheap anti-retroviral drugs for AIDS patients, an official said Wednesday.
Several companies have proposed manufacturing the generic drugs, said Muriani Hutabarat of the National Agency for Drug and Food Control.
"They still have to meet our requirements so we still don't know when they can start manufacturing the drugs," Hutabarat said.
The World Health Organisation and the UN joint program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, warned in a report this month that HIV in Indonesia, along with China and India, is in danger of leaping from the high-risk groups into the mainstream.
An estimated 130,000 Indonesians are living with HIV/AIDS, up from 110,000 last year.
The WHO and UNAIDS recently unveiled an ambitious program to provide anti-retroviral drugs to three million people in developing countries and those in transition within two years.
031203
AF031244
©AFP 2003. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. - http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2003. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2003 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
