( Former US president Bill Clinton has on...)Clinton Foundation Eases Over-Pricing Of AIDS Drugs Once More,Health

Former US president Bill Clinton has once again lent a helping hand to HIV/ AIDS victims. After a fallout between the Brazil government and drug giant Merck over pricey anti-retroviral drugs, the Clinton foundation has helped diffuse the situation. Clinching a deal with two Indian pharmaceutical companies Cipla and Matrix, Bill Clinton announced the tie-up with the companies to provide second-line AVR drugs and a next generation one-pill-a-day drug.

Cipla and Matrix agreed to price their drugs on a cost-plus basis and collaborate with Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI) to lower production costs, in part, by securing lower prices for key raw materials and by addressing major chemistry challenges.

These agreements lower prices for 16 formulations of ARVs, which will be available to 66 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean through the Clinton Foundations Procurement Consortium, a release from CHAI added.

Bill Clinton was quoted: Seven million people in the developing world are in need of treatment for HIV/AIDS. We are trying to meet that need with the best medicine available today, and at prices that low-and middle-income countries can afford. I applaud Cipla and Matrix for their commitment to lower the cost of new drugs at the forefront of the fight against AIDS, and I thank UNITAID for the funds.

The AIDS virus infects nearly 39 million people globally, and has killed 25 million people since it was identified 25 years ago. Virtually all (95 percent) of people infected with the virus live in the developing world.

Experts say that by the year 2010, nearly half a million people in developing countries will need the drugs which currently cost far more money than the majority of developing countries can afford.

As Clinton was reported saying- companies will not live or die because of high price premiums for AIDS drugs in middle-income countries, but pati
'"/>




Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Clintons new problem - Is the outgoing American president suffering from skin cancer?
2. AIDS testing gets support from Bill Clinton
3. Bill Clinton On A Kill, To Bell The Bulge Out of Schools
4. MoU for HIV/AIDS Signed by Nigeria and Clinton Foundation
5. Clinton, Gates Highlight Treatment, Discrimination of AIDS
6. Powerful Synergy: Botswana and Clinton foundation To Sign MOU
7. Clinton’s Nutrition Deal Cuts Junk Food on School Menu
8. Bill Clinton Says US Healthcare System Immoral
9. Hillary Clinton Speaks Up Strongly for Stem Cell Research
10. Woodruff Foundation Grant To Support Doctorate Of Nursing Practice Program
11. Kalam To Lay Foundation Of Vellore Research Center