Newsday - February 5, 2001
Laurie Garrett
Chicago-Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs yesterday called for a marked shift in global AIDS policy, calling for the United States, Europe and Japan to contribute a total of $1 billion annually to make treatment available to poor Africans.
Sachs told the opening of the Eighth annual AIDS Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections here that between 1996 and 1998 the rich nations gave a total of only $79 million to fight AIDS in all of the least developed nations.
Treatments could be made available to millions of poor Africans at a cost that would be trivial to the developed countries, he told about 3,000 scientists and clinicians last night.
"I believe that the drug companies, World Bank and African countries would strongly support such an effort. What's missing is a commitment from the wealthy countries," he said in a news conference shortly before his speech. "The new [Bush] administration is well placed to make it happen, and I think that they will make it happen."
Sachs said the scheme for provision of anti-HIV drugs to poor countries would require the participation of African leaders, drug company executives, the heads of state of the G-8 industrialized nations and the World Bank. The creation of such a partnership sounds daunting, but Sachs insisted, "This is no big deal. This is an easy one."
His plan calls for the donor governments to give $1 billion to the drug companies. That would reimburse the companies for selling their anti-HIV medicines at cost to an umbrella donor group run by the wealthy nations. The minimal cocktail of HIV drugs would be provided to two million Africans at an annual price of about $500 each.
He insists that the drug companies would not lose money-but would not profit, either. The donor governments also would need to spend more to create infrastructures in Africa for the dispensing of such drugs.
"There's been no effort whatsoever," Sachs charged. "The Clinton administration talked a lot, but did nothing whatsoever about this."
He insisted the time is ripe for change. The pharmaceutical industry, increasingly being labeled "the No. 1 villain in the global backlash against globalization, is ready to deal," Sachs said, "especially because they have a friend in the White House right now."
And African leaders, by and large, are "ready to do whatever they can to protect their people" against AIDS.
Widescale use of anti-HIV drugs in Africa would immediately confront "the absolute, catastrophic collapse of the public health infrastructure" on that continent, Dr. Kevin DeCock told the conference. DeCock runs the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's East African efforts. He said that the spread of drug- resistant viruses would pose a problem. "On the other hand, we can't simply say that this [the availability of treatment] is OK for the U.S., but not for Africa. We don't have a whole lot of choice.
"But...the spread of multi-drug resistant virus is a threat. No doubt about it."
Like Sachs, DeCock expressed anger and frustration over the world's response to Africa's epidemic. Experts estimate 25.3 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are currently living with HIV.
"This is undoubtably Africa's greatest catastrophe since slavery," DeCock said, anger visible on his face. "And we are responding to this emergency in a matter that is remarkably nonchalant.
"What do you think we would do if the United States faced African- level HIV incidence? Think. Go ahead. Design a prevention program for me," DeCock challenged, concluding, "in terms of Africa we are accepting the unacceptable."
010205
ND010202
Copyright © 2001 - Newsday. All rights reserved. All pages of newsday.com are copyright © Newsday, Inc. Other parties may also own rights to portions of newsday.com content. No portion of newsday.com content may be published, broadcast or distributed, directly or indirectly, in any medium without Newsday's prior written consent. Newsday, Inc. will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any content on newsday.com. http://www.newsday.com.
ÆGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Roxane Laboratories, Inc., iMetrikus, Inc., the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2001. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1990, 2000. ÆGiS & the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. All materials appearing on ÆGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint. Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.