[afro-nets] Treatment and HIV prevalence: 3 items

["Leela McCullough" <leela@healthnet.org>]

Treatment and HIV prevalence: 3 items
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Kenya To Provide Antiretrovirals At No Cost, Kenyan President Says
06 Jun 2006

http://www.kaisernetwork.org

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Thursday in a speech announced that antiretroviral drugs will be provided at no cost in government hospitals and health centers in the country, Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 6/1).

Kibaki said that the current $1.54 fee per dose -- which activists say is one reason why only 60,000 of the 200,000 Kenyans eligible are taking antiretroviral drugs -- will be waived "with immediate effect" (BBC News, 6/2). According to Mwihaki Kimura Muraguri, the African Medical and Research Foundation's program manager for HIV/AIDS, AMREF has been educating Kenyans about how to administer antiretroviral drugs correctly and the importance of proper nutrition and treatment monitoring. Providing antiretroviral drugs at no cost is "a critical step," Muraguri said, adding, "We look forward to seeing reduced costs for treatment support such as lab tests, whose costs are still prohibitive." (Reuters Health, 6/1). According to BBC News, "[s]tockpiles" of antiretroviral drugs are "languishing" in Kenyan warehouses because of a shortage of trained health care workers, a lack of HIV testing facilities and a lack of understanding about the effectiveness of the drugs (BBC News, 6/2).
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GSK To Reduce Price Of Some Antiretrovirals Sold In Developing Nations 03 Jun 2006 

GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday announced that it is reducing by about 30% the cost of some of its antiretroviral drugs currently sold at not-for-profit prices in developing countries, Reuters reports. Under the cost reductions, which will take effect on July 1, 60-tablet packs of Trizivir and Ziagen will cost about $70.00 and $52.29, respectively (Reuters, 5/30). The drug company also announced that it will make Kivexa and Telzir available at not-for-profit prices once they have been approved by drug regulatory bodies in developing nations (GSK release, 5/30). GSK plans to differentiate drug shipments intended for not-for-profit markets to ensure they are not diverted back to for profit markets. In addition, the company has signed its eighth voluntary licensing agreement with South Africa-based Sonke Pharmaceuticals, which will allow Sonke to make generic versions of some of its drugs (Reuters, 5/30). In 2003, GSK announced that it was reducing the price of its AIDS drugs by as much as 47% for 63 nations, including all of sub-Saharan Africa. The reduced pricing scheme is available to not-for-profit groups, governments, aid agencies and companies that provide the drugs to their employees (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/28/03).
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HIV Prevalence Higher Among Women Than General Population In Ethiopia
05 Jun 2006 

HIV prevalence among women is higher than among the general population in Ethiopia, Health Minister Kebede Worku said Thursday at the annual conference of the Ethiopian Medical Association, SAPA/Mail & Guardian reports. According to the national surveillance report, 5% of women in the country are living with HIV, compared with 4.4% of the general population, Worku said. According to Worku, women are at an increased risk of contracting HIV because of their low socio-economic status, as well as biological factors. He added that of the 35,000 HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral drugs from the government since January 2005, 46% are women and 4% are children. Government statistics estimate that about 1.6 million people in Ethiopia are living with HIV/AIDS, but some local and international nongovernmental organizations put the figure at about three million (SAPA/Mail & Guardian, 6/1).
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