AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 12 Dec 2001

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 12 Dec 2001
-----------------------------------------------

* House Approves Hyde Bill Allocating $1.3 Billion in Spending for
  International AIDS Programs
* UNAIDS Says $5 Billion Needed Annually to Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa
* Ten Nations Cut Deals to Slash Prices on AIDS Drugs
* Nigerian Generic AIDS Drug Trial Delayed for Second Time

--
House Approves Hyde Bill Allocating $1.3 Billion in Spending for In-
ternational AIDS Programs

The House yesterday passed by voice vote the Global Access to 
HIV/AIDS Prevention, Awareness, Education and Treatment Act (HR 
2069), sponsored by International Relations Committee Chair Henry 
Hyde (R.-Ill.), which authorizes $1.3 billion in funding for interna-
tional programs to fight HIV/AIDS, the AP/Nando Times reports. The 
bill earmarks $750 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber-
culosis and Malaria and $485 million in bilateral aid to support edu-
cation, treatment and prevention programs run by non-governmental or-
ganizations (Abrams, AP/Nando Times, 12/11). The bill also designates 
$50 million for a pilot program that would provide antiretroviral 
treatment to people with HIV/AIDS in developing nations and estab-
lishes programs to "strengthen and broaden" indigenous health infra-
structures to enable developing nations to distribute and monitor 
antiretroviral drugs. Other funds within the bill will provide assis-
tance to programs to prevent vertical HIV transmission, strengthen 
and expand hospice and palliative care programs and support AIDS or-
phans (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/10). Hyde said that the 
United States has a "responsibility to lead the world in confronting 
one of the most compelling humanitarian and moral challenges facing 
us today" (Abrams, AP/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 12/12). Paul 
Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, applauded the 
House's approval of the bill, stating that its passage "defines a bi-
partisan support for new resources to stop global AIDS." Zeitz added, 
"The Republican-controlled House is taking leadership on this issue 
and we are hoping that President Bush and Congress will actually pro-
vide the new increased funding to stop the devastating impact of the 
global AIDS pandemic" (Global AIDS Alliance release, 12/11).

Budget Quandaries

Some lawmakers, however, are skeptical as to whether the increased 
funding will actually materialize, as the authorization bill does not 
actually release the allocated funds. The current foreign aid appro-
priations bill circulating in Congress, which determines the actual 
budget, allocates less than $500 million to be spent on bilateral 
AIDS programs and only $100 million for the global AIDS fund. Rep. 
James Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee's 
foreign aid panel, said he cannot endorse the $750 million allocation 
for the global AIDS fund, adding, "More funds are possible, but I 
don't want anybody to have unrealistic expectations [for this year's 
budget]" (Abrams, AP/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 12/12). Rep. Bar-
bara Lee (D.-Calif.), one of the co-sponsors of the Hyde bill, said 
she will try to increase the U.S. contribution to the global AIDS 
fund to $1 billion (Lee release, 12/11).


--
UNAIDS Says $5 Billion Needed Annually to Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa

About $5 billion -- 10 times the amount presently spent -- is needed 
annually to "organize effective prevention, to care for people living 
with HIV and to support AIDS orphans" in Africa, UNAIDS Executive Di-
rector Peter Piot said late Monday at the 12th International Confer-
ence on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa, Reuters re-
ports. Piot told reporters at the conference, which is taking place 
this week in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that the money should come 
from the national budgets of affected nations, foreign donors and the 
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a $7 billion to 
$10 billion fund proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last 
spring. "The phase of planning and small pilot projects is over. I am 
telling the communities, young people and those living with HIV to 
stand up and be counted," Piot said. Stephen Lewis, Annan's special 
representative for AIDS in Africa, said that "Africa is now mobilized 
to apply all the plans which have been drawn up, but this requires 
donor funds, and that money is not there yet," adding that between 
6,000 and 8,000 Africans die of AIDS-related causes each day 
(Bonkoungou, Reuters, 12/11).


--
Ten Nations Cut Deals to Slash Prices on AIDS Drugs

In other conference news, 10 African nations have signed deals with 
pharmaceutical firms to cut the costs of antiretroviral drugs by an 
average of 85%, according to U.N. officials. Burkina Faso, Burundi, 
Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Cost, Mali, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and 
Uganda pledged in return not to resell the drugs to other nations. 
Two studies unveiled at the conference concluded that it is feasible 
to use the drugs in developing nations, contradicting contentions 
that African nations are "ill-equipped" to manage the treatment 
(Agence France-Presse/New York Times, 12/12). 


--
Nigerian Generic AIDS Drug Trial Delayed for Second Time

Nigeria's "long-awaited" clinical trial of generic antiretroviral 
drugs was delayed on Monday for the second time this fall, the 
AP/Baltimore Sun reports. The trial, which was originally scheduled 
to begin in September, was to test drugs supplied by Indian generic 
drug manufacturers Cipla and Rambazy on 10,000 adults and 5,000 chil-
dren with HIV. An official with the Ministry of Health said the drugs 
were in Nigeria, but "organizational delays" had hampered efforts to 
distribute the drugs to the 18 test centers on time. The official 
said that some patients may receive the drugs by Christmas. "We are 
hopeful. But we don't know anything. We remain in the dark," an offi-
cial with the National AIDS Alliance, a non-governmental advocacy 
group for people with HIV/AIDS, said. Participants in the trial, 
which will be the first in Africa involving generic drugs, are ex-
pected to pay only half of the drugs' standard $350-per-year price 
tag. Other expenses, such as doctors' fees, are also expected to be 
waived. About 3.5 million Nigerians are estimated to have HIV/AIDS, 
and a government survey reported that the infection rate among people 
between the ages of 15 and 45 is 5.8%, although prevalence rates of 
HIV infection in many regions of the country are estimated to be 
closer to 10% (AP/Baltimore Sun, 12/11). 

--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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