HIV/AIDS
Drugs in Africa
Issues relating to HIV/AIDS and Drugs in Africa
According to (Kwame Kuadey UNAIDS) although there is no
cure for AIDS, drug cocktails and improved medical care
in developed countries is significantly extending the
lives of people living with HIV. This article examine
issues affecting the availability of drugs and care for
HIV/AIDS patients in Africa, and explains why the production
of cheaper generic versions of HIV/AIDS drugs is the best
available option in providing hope for the millions already
infected with HIV/AIDS.
AIDS and HIV Drugs
Not so long ago, testing positive for HIV meant an automatic
death sentence. Now things have changed for the better.
Combinations of drugs introduced about seven years ago
have turned AIDS from a death sentence to a treatable
disease. These drugs are able to prolong life a few more
years. Even for people dying of AIDS, new drugs are available
that can restore health temporarily. As of 2003, the FDA
had approved more than fifty drugs for the treatment of
HIV/AIDS or AIDS-related conditions. When taken the right
way, these drugs can drive the HIV virus below detectable
levels. The bad news is that these drugs are very expensive
and can only be afforded by a few patients, mostly in
advanced countries. In Africa, fewer than 100,000 people
living with HIV have access to antiretroviral treatment
(a 2% coverage rate out of the estimated 4.4 million adults
in need of treatment).
AIDS Drugs in Africa
Few Africans can afford the drugs needed to fight AIDS,
which can cost between $500 and $1,000 a month. Additionally,
many African governments do not have the funds to import
these drugs. The average African nation spends less than
$10 per person each year on health care. At the same time,
these governments have to fight diseases like malaria
(the cost of treating malaria accounts for up to 40% of
Africa's public health spending), TB, and cholera among
others.
Even simple antibiotics prescribed to patients who begin
to show signs of so-called opportunistic AIDS infections,
like tuberculosis and other bacterial infections, are
not available for patients in many African countries.
Another drug, Fluconazole, which is essential in the management
of HIV-complications (like meningitis, which is a common
infection in many AIDS cases in Africa) is too expensive
and therefore unavailable in many Sub-Saharan African
countries.
This means that a majority of the 25.3 million Africans
infected with AIDS won't get the best available treatment
and will die as a result. In Zambia, one of the few growth
industries is the manufacturing of coffins. It is estimated
that 200 people die of HIV-related illnesses in Zambia
each day. The availability of affordable drugs for AIDS
patients should be seen as an urgent situation that needs
the attention of African governments, pharmaceutical companies,
and the international community. What good is a drug if
95 percent of the patients it was meant to help cannot
afford it?
Why are AIDS Drugs so expensive?
The drugs used to fight HIV/AIDS are manufactured by pharmaceutical
companies usually based in Europe and North America. These
companies spend billions of dollars on research and development
of HIV/AIDS drugs. They are therefore determined to profit
from their drugs at all cost. This makes them less sympathetic
to the plight of AIDS patients in Africa. More rightly
noted by Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the
United Nations, "Pharmaceutical companies would rather
treat a bald American than a dying African." This
is because the chances of the company recouping the money
investment in research and development of the drug are
far greater.
South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda have attempted to produce
generic versions of these HIV/AIDS drugs to help fight
the disease in their respective countries, but stopped
by international copyright laws.
Top of page |
A
march in Durban, South Africa during the 13th International
AIDS Conference
(Source: Ketan Joshi, Photoshare and Africansocieties.org)
 ©
UNICEF/HQ01-0196/Pirozzi
Orphans,
HIV and AIDS: Life without parents
MALAWI
Project (irinnews.org)
©
UNICEF Ethiopia/2002
Meseret, Besufekad and Tezerash.
Justin, who lives in Malawi, is only 14, but since he
lost his parents to AIDS he has had to look after his
10-year-old brother and 9-year-old sister. "The main
problem we have without our parents is finding food,"
he says. Without parents or guardians, Justin had to drop
out of school to earn a living, carrying food for merchants
so he and his siblings could have enough to eat (UNICEF
2002). |
