Bay Area Reporter - April 6, 2001
S. Predrag

"We are very interested in the question of affordable drugs and medicines," Mbeki said after his meeting with Castro in Havana.

Mbeki, who recently ended his first state visit to Cuba, emphasized that, "The matter is critical to the provision of sufficient and adequate health care to our people."

Castro said that his country was already manufacturing " àthose famous [AIDS] cocktails" and he claimed that he was ready to help Brazil and South Africa produce generic AIDS drugs and circumvent patent laws.

In an interview with local television, Castro challenged the multinational pharmaceutical companies to protest.

According to South African media, Castro said, "I would like to hear a protest so I can grin from ear to ear."

During his visit to Havana, Mbeki and his delegation toured Cuba's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center, which is believed to be the scientific brain behind the country's pharmaceutical industry.

So far, neither Cuban nor South African officials have disclosed any details of their proposed cooperation in the development and production of AIDS drugs. It is not yet known which AIDS drugs Cuba is already producing, except that Havana reportedly claims that the drug combination in question is "a world-class quality cocktail."

During South Africa's apartheid era, Cuba opposed the former white minority regime and supported many liberation movements in Africa. In the mid-1970s, Cuba sent troops to several African countries, including Angola.

South Africa presently has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world. According to the latest official figures, it is estimated that 4.7 million South Africans or one in nine are infected with HIV.

However, a local weekly, the Mail & Guardian stated that, "The true HIV infection rate may be closer to one in eight South Africans." Quoting reputable researchers, the paper reported that about 5.3 to 5.4 million people in South Africa are living with HIV, or about 700,000 people more than the latest government figures. It is believed that the number of HIV-positive people in South Africa is growing by 1,700 per day.

Meanwhile, a case brought by 39 multinational drugs companies against the South African government got under way in Pretoria's High Court on March 5. The companies are challenging Mbeki's government over its legislation that allows the license and manufacture of affordable generic versions of expensive brand name drugs. The case has been delayed until later this month.

Growing international criticism, coupled with an evident desire to prevent worldwide infringement of patent rights, has prompted some multinational pharmaceutical companies to offer AIDS drugs at substantially lower prices to the most affected countries in Africa.

However, an Indian drug manufacturer, Cipla Ltd., has offered to sell AIDS drugs at considerably lower prices to Doctors Without Borders for its work in Africa.

The Bombay-based company is offering generic versions of triple-therapy drug cocktails for the treatment of AIDS at a price of $350 per person per year.
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