AFRO-NETS> Pfizer Offering Free Eye Antibiotic to poor countries in Africa & Asia

[Claudio Schuftan <aviva@netnam.vn>]

Pfizer Offering Free Eye Antibiotic to poor countries in Africa & Asia
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- In a major boost to a U.N. campaign to 
eradicate an eye infection that causes blindness, Pfizer an-
nounced that it will provide an antibiotic free to treat about 90 
percent of the 150 million people afflicted.
 
The international organization leading the fight against tra-
choma-related blindness said it is "enthusiastic" that with the 
medicine it can now achieve the goal set by the World Health Or-
ganization of eliminating the ancient scourge by 2020.
 
Over the last five years, the pharmaceutical giant has provided 
eight million doses of the antibiotic Zithromax to the Interna-
tional Trachoma Initiative to treat sufferers in nine impover-
ished countries in Africa and Asia.
 
Hank McKinnell, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive officer, 
told a news conference Tuesday that the initial program had been 
so successful that Pfizer would donate 135 million additional 
doses of Zithromax over the next five years.
 
"That represents a 15-fold increase and the largest donation of a 
patented medicine in history," he said.
 
Zithromax is an antibiotic that is used primarily to treat respi-
ratory tract infections in children. It has over $2 billion in 
worldwide sales annually, McKinnell said.
 
McKinnell said the 8 million doses, plus other support to the 
initiative from Pfizer over the last five years, was worth about 
$300 million in wholesale prices in the countries where Zithromax 
was distributed.
 
He refused to put an estimate on the value of the 135 million ad-
ditional doses, but another Pfizer executive said it runs into 
"many hundreds of millions" of dollars.
 
Serge Reznikoff of the World Health Organization called the 
Pfizer announcement "very exciting and promising."
 
Over the past century, trachoma was eliminated in many countries, 
including virtually all of the Americas, Europe and Australia. In 
the early 1900s, infected immigrants were barred from entering 
the United States and trachoma was a major public health concern 
until it was eradicated over a half century ago.
 
But it is still prevalent in 48 countries in the poorest parts of 
Africa, Asia and Latin America where clean water and sanitation 
are scarce.
 
Trachoma is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis which 
can be spread easily by hands, clothing, or flies that have come 
into contact with discharges from the eyes or nose of an infected 
person. Over time, it results in turned-in eyelashes which then 
scratch and scar the cornea, leading to blindness if not treated.
 
Trachoma was initially treated with tetracycline ointment in the 
eye, but it required five to seven applications daily for 10 days 
and McKinnell said the compliance with this regime was "terri-
ble."
 
He said Zithromax represented a major step forward because it can 
be administered in a one-time single dose -- either an oral solu-
tion for children or four pills taken together.
 
"With a single dose you have a cure which is quite dramatic," 
McKinnell said, explaining that Zithromax eliminates the Chlamy-
dia that causes blinding trachoma.
 
The International Trachoma Initiative is a partnership among 
Pfizer, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, national governments 
and non-governmental organizations.

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