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The Clinton Foundation in Partnership with UNITAID announce “Next Generation” HIV/AIDS Treatment Now
Less Than $1 A Day
May 8, 2007
New York, NY
Credit: Clinton Foundation, Todd France
President Clinton announces significant price reductions for second-line
HIV/AIDS treatment at a press conference. |
President Bill Clinton today announced new agreements that significantly lower
the price of AIDS treatment for second-line anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), drugs
required in patients who develop resistance to first-line treatment and which
currently cost 10 times the price of first-line therapy. These agreements, entered into in partnership with and with funding from UNITAID, an international drug purchase facility, lower
the prices for 16 formulations of ARVs that will generate an average savings
of 25 percent in low-income countries and 50 percent in middle-income countries.
Reduced prices will be available to 66 developing countries in Africa, Asia,
Latin America and the Caribbean through the Clinton Foundation’s Procurement
Consortium.
Citing the importance of keeping AIDS treatment affordable, President Clinton
also announced the “next generation” first-line treatment, taken
once daily, is now less than $1 under new agreements. The equivalent product
in the U.S., launched in July 2006, is widely perceived as a gold-standard treatment,
as it offers greater convenience, fewer side effects, and improved treatment
outcomes in comparison to the regimen used most commonly in developing countries.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, chairman of the UNITAID board, added, “Every person living with HIV deserves access to the most effective medicines, and UNITAID aims to ensure that these are affordable for all developing countries. I am pleased that our partnership with President Clinton is lowering the price of second-line treatment, and that the new prices will be available to low and middle income countries alike.”
President Clinton was joined at the announcement by Thailand Minister of Health
Mongkol Na Songkhla and Kenyan Minister of Health Charity Ngilu, who both praised
the Clinton Foundation for its efforts that have given Thailand, Kenya and dozens
of other countries the opportunity to expand life-saving treatment and give
thousands of people a chance at life.
UNAIDS and the Global Fund have come out in support of the new agreements.
“It can be hard to take AIDS drugs properly, and even when people do,
they develop resistance over time, and need new medication,” said Michael
Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
“Today’s announcement means progress on both: lower prices for state
of the art once a day combinations, and lower prices for second-line treatment.
Thanks to the Clinton Foundation and UNITAID, developing countries and the Global
Fund won’t have to choose as much between continuing treatment for people
who need new drugs, and putting new people on treatment. This means programs
supported by the Global Fund will be able to save more lives.”
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