Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - November 27, 2001
Still, that number, announced Monday, is only a fraction of those who need to be taking the medicine, said an adviser with Doctors Without Borders.
Last March, under pressure from activists, Merck announced it would offer Crixivan and Stocrin to 100 countries for $600 and $500 a year per person, respectively.
In the United States, Crixivan is about $6,000 a year per person. Stocrin is sold in the United States by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. under the brand name Sustiva for about $4,700 a year.
Merck's actions were quickly mirrored by Bristol-Myers and Abbott Laboratories.
The Merck program has been most successful in Kenya and South Africa, where the drugs are purchased by a combination of charity organizations and private insurers.
In Kenya, the number of individuals being treated increased fivefold to 1,000. Meanwhile in South Africa, the number surged 20 times to 5,000.
The dramatic increase in South Africa is noteworthy because the government there has been widely criticized for its failure to address the AIDS epidemic. The drugs there have been primarily purchased through insurers, said Guy Macdonald, vice president of Merck's anti-infective franchise. He hopes that employers in South Africa will also begin to take advantage of the offer.
Merck's offer is open to the world's 100 poorest countries; so far 40 countries have received shipments of the discounted drugs while an additional eight countries have indicated they plan to purchase the cheaper medicines.
But more must be done, said Doctors Without Borders medical adviser Anne-Valerie Kaninda.
For example, sub-Saharan Africa, home to 25 million infected with AIDS, has been hardest hit by the pandemic; of those, about 2.5 million to 3 million should be taking medicines, but only 25,000 to 30,000 are on any type of therapy, she said.
"Any additional person who is able to gain access to medicines is a good thing," said Kaninda. "But the needs are huge. We are still very far from fulfilling the needs."
She added the drug companies should continue to lower their prices to make them even more affordable to more people and governments.
Macdonald said Merck did not plan any further price reductions, however.
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