BBC News - Monday, 5 November, 2001
Richard Black, BBC science correspondent
Asean Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said the group would look into buying drugs in bulk and negotiating collectively with pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices.
Over 1.5-million people in South East Asia are known to be infected with HIV - the virus that causes Aids - and although the infection rate is declining in some nations such as Thailand, it is rising in others.
Mr Severino said that Asean countries have collaborated closely on issues such as trade and pollution, Aids programmes have so far remained at national level.
One of the ideas that Asean nations will explore is whether they can act collectively to make Aids drugs more affordable.
By buying in bulk, and by applying political pressure on pharmaceutical companies, they believe it may be possible to lower the prices of the anti-retroviral drugs which prevent HIV infection developing into full-blown Aids.
Aids trailblazers
Asean will explore partnerships outside the region, with countries such as South Africa and Brazil, which have already found ways of providing cheaper drugs.
Activists in South East Asia have welcomed the initiative, which involves education and social support as well as medicines.
The Malaysian Aids Council said pharmaceutical companies will have to take notice of this kind of concerted political action, and lower their prices, which could bring benefits to other parts of the world where HIV is running out of control.
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