NEW YORK, March 27 (AFP) - Abbott Laboratories announced Tuesday that it would join Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb in slashing the price of its anti-AIDS drugs for African consumption.
The Illinois-based company said it would offer its two anti-retroviral medications to treat HIV infection, Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) and Norvir (ritonavir), in Africa at cost.
"AIDS has taken an unprecedented toll on the health, economic and social structures of Africa," said Miles White, Abbott's chairman and chief executive officer, adding the company would also make its Determine HIV test readily available in Africa at no profit for the company.
"It is our sincere hope that this action will lead governments and other sources of international funding to help make a difference for millions of people who need AIDS care," White said.
"The next step in the global response is to develop the infrastructure necessary to deliver effective treatment."
Abbott's announcement came as health ministers from the Non-Aligned Movement adopted a declaration in Johannesburg on Tuesday stating that poor countries had a right to resort to special measures to source cheap medicines, including treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Some 70 percent of the world's 36.1 million HIV or AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures.
010327
AF0103C5
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2001 - 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.. http://www.afp.com/
ÆGiS 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 Always watch for outdated information.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 2001. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2001 - ÆGiS. ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on ÆGIS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
