Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 21, 2003
"There are 6 million people in the world who need medication for HIV AIDS, of whom only about 300,000 are getting anti-retroviral drugs," Clinton told a news conference at Ranbaxy Laboratories (500359.BY), in this city on the outskirts of New Delhi, India's capital.
His William J. Clinton Foundation has brokered an agreement for four Indian drug companies and a South African firm to cut the price of their AIDS drugs for distribution in South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Bahamas.
He said the initiative will make HIV drugs available at a cost of $139 a year.
"It cuts costs of HIV/AIDS drugs by two-thirds, making it affordable for a maximum number of people, considering the staggering dimension of this problem," he said.
He said without treatment being available, young people cannot be made to come and get tested.
Ira Magaziner, head of the Clinton foundation's HIV/AIDS initiative, told reporters the agreement will make HIV/AIDS drugs affordable and accessible to 2 million people in Africa and the Caribbean.
Four Indian drug companies, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Matrix Laboratories (524794.BY), Cipla (500087.BY) and Hetero Drugs, along with Aspen Pharmacare (APN.JO) of South Africa have agreed to supply countries with low-cost drugs under the arrangement with the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton said Friday that the Indian companies are in a position to give high quality drugs and "the companies have agreed to go in for lower profit on each dose and to look for higher volumes by tying up with the Clinton Foundation's AIDS initiative."
Although nearly 70% of HIV/AIDS cases are in Africa, it is also surfacing in other parts of the world, Clinton said, mentioning rural China and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Later Friday, Clinton met with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on his third visit to India. He came first, as president, in 2000, warming up Indo-U.S. ties that had been chilly since the Cold War. He visited again in 2001 to encourage programs empowering women and providing rehabilitation after India's devastating Jan. 26, 2001 earthquake.
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