Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Associated Press - March 26, 2004
Setting up an American system when WHO has approved the drugs would delay delivery of AIDS medicines to people who need them, said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., in separate letters to the White House.
"Make no mistake, delays will cost lives," Kennedy and McCain said in their letter.
Waxman accused the White House of putting the consideration of American drug companies above getting generic low-cost medicines, most of which are made in India, to dying Africans.
"These pharmaceutical companies are among your strongest political supporters," Waxman said. "They should not be dictating policy on U.S. efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and elsewhere."
At issue is a scheduled meeting in Botswana to discuss whether stringent safety and efficiency standards should be applied to "fixed-dose combination" drugs, which combine several different treatments for the disease into one pill.
Some of these medicines already have been cleared by the WHO, but some Bush administration officials have suggested an American review system is necessary. The American proposal will be discussed in Botswana March 29-30.
The lawmakers said WHO's standards are sometimes higher than the American standards, and trying to set up another review system will just slow down attempts to get low-cost drugs to African countries.
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