Life-saving AIDS drugs shouldn't cost the earth
The Universe
(August 01, 2004)
Sex tourists stay away - that was one of the scary messages from Asia as the 15th. International AIDS conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, came to an end.
The latest UN report on the disease indicates that it is steadily spreading despite massive efforts to contain it. Five percent of AIDS sufferers are women, some of them victimised by promiscuous sex tourists.
Most of the new infections since 2001 have incurred in mainland Asia. Japan and the Middle East have seen increases too. The most vulnerable of all are women trafficked or lured into the sex tourist business.
The brothels of Thailand, India and Sri Lanka have the highest recorded increases and the Philippines has been a hard hit too. While low in comparison to the other nations, the rate of infection in the Philippines is on the rise. There were 9,000 reported cases last year and an estimated ten times more than go unreported - double the 2001 figure.
George W. Bush came in for a lot of criticism during the conference, with the greatest hostility being aimed at the policy of his administration that says US aid money should be used only to buy the astronomically priced antiretroviral drugs from U.S. pharmaceutical companies. The same drugs that hold the disease in check are available in developing nations at a fraction of the cost. Thus more victims could be treated and lives saved for the same money, critics say.
Some countries like India and Brazil do not allow the patenting of products, just processes. This gave the manufactures of lifesaving generic non-brandname drugs a huge boost and their low cost drugs are saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
The ability to manufacture the same drug cheaply and make them available to all was inhibited by the pressure of the Pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Government. For example, fearful of trade restrictions, the Thai Government introduced a law allowing drugs to be patented despite the fact that this was disastrous to the public health and welfare of the people. The pharmaceutical companies, with little compassion, care or interest in the well-being of the poor, demanded their profits from their high-priced drugs.
Despite the legal restrictions, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation produced a low cost pill taken twice a day that holds back the wasting disease at a low cost of $29 a month. In 2001 the same treatment cost $490 a month.
Thousands of people are now recovering yet the poorest of the poor living on $ 2 or $3 a day have no chance and must lie down and die. It is still a rich manšs world. Yet the government is trying to reach all. There are 160,000 people in dire need but only 23,000 will be reached this year. The legal fight is not yet over in Thailand more effective drugs are still protected by unjust patent laws.
Life saving drugs must be there for all and the well being of humans, the sacredness of life and the reduction of suffering must be of paramount importance. The pursuit of profits at the expense of the dying must be pushed aside. Institutionalised greed must be replaced with compassionate and care.
