Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - December 14, 2005
The additions follow an agreement signed earlier this year between the two organisations to facilitate the exchange of quality-related information on HIV/AIDS medicines for procurement.
The announcement brings to around 77 the number of life-extending drugs that the United Nations health agency recommends for fighting the deadly disease in poor countries.
The new medicines listed have received approval or tentative approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has a similar assessment system to the Geneva-based WHO.
"What it means for AIDS programmes at the country level is that there is a longer list from which they can choose and that medicines are being added to the list in a faster way," said WHO spokeswoman Daniela Bagozzi.
"The more competition there is between drug companies and drugs, the cheaper the drugs will be. It means that we have a longer list of quality assured products. People have more quality drugs to choose from," she said. The medicines listed are six antiretrovirals from Indian generic manufacturer Aurobindo, plus a single-ingredient product from Aspen, based in South Africa, the first African producer to be included on the WHO's list of prequalified medicines.
The WHO had already listed two other drugs from the same manufacturers on Dec 1.
The WHO has admitted that it will miss its target of getting 3 million people on antiretroviral treatment by year-end. In June, it said about 1 million people in poor countries were receiving the drugs.
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