Wall Street Journal - September 9, 2002
Leslie Chang, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Qi Xiaoqiu, director-general of the department of disease control of the Ministry of Health, said the government is lobbying multinational pharmaceuticals makers to lower their prices for patented drugs that can slow the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in patients. But if the talks don't bear fruit "by the end of the year or early next year," he said, China will start granting licenses for local drug firms to make and sell the medicines, even though the move would violate the foreign companies' patents.

"We would like to do as Brazil and India have done, to have compulsory licenses so the drugs can be much cheaper. But we are a responsible country," Mr. Qi said, noting China's international agreements to protect intellectual property. But he added, "We feel that any government must be responsible when people's lives, health and interests are concerned. We cannot wait much longer."

China is waking up to the urgency of an epidemic the government estimates has infected one million people. For years, officials denied the seriousness of AIDS, which is especially common among poor Chinese in rural areas, who contract the virus either through sharing needles or selling blood at unsanitary blood stations. Seeking a less-expensive drug supply is in some ways easier than the politically sensitive and logistically difficult challenges of implementing sex-education programs in schools or working with high-risk groups like prostitutes and drug users. The World Trade Organization, which China recently joined, allows countries to make generic versions of patented drugs in cases of national health emergencies.

Last month, China's State Drug Administration issued permission for the first time for a domestic company to produce and sell an AIDS drug, AZT, which is no longer under patent protection in China. Mr. Qi predicted a few more companies would obtain approval either later this year or early next year to produce various AIDS drugs. About a dozen companies have applied for such permission, he said.

While multinational companies that sell such drugs in China have cut their prices by at least half, Mr. Qi said a year's supply of a commonly used combination of drugs known as a cocktail still costs between $2,500 and $4,000 -- out of reach for most of the infected in China. About 100 patients in China are being treated with the cocktail, with much of that supply donated from overseas.

Mr. Qi conceded that local governments have been a barrier to getting accurate figures regarding the scope of China's AIDS problem. But he said the country's overall AIDS statistics are accurate and take into account underreporting.

Mr. Qi defended the government's AIDS record, saying China's overall infection rate is low even though the country ranks No. 4 in Asia for total number of infected patients. He said officials moved to limit the damage after the AIDS virus was discovered among intravenous drug users and, later, when the blood supply was found to be infected. "If the government had not done large-scale work during these crucial times, the numbers of people infected with AIDS would not be only one million. It would be much higher," he said.

Write to Leslie Chang at leslie.chang@wsj.com

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