Health News
2007-04-18
WHO: Access to
HIV treatment improved
Lower prices for
HIV drugs have significantly improved access to
treatment for people in poor countries, but figures are
still
Lower prices for
HIV drugs have significantly improved access to
treatment for people in poor countries, but figures are
still far off target for the United Nations' long-term
goal of universal coverage by 2010, the World Health
Organization said Tuesday.
By the end of
2006 some 2 million people in low- and middle-income
countries were receiving the antiretroviral drugs that help
treat the HIV infection, according to WHO's annual
progress report.
This represents
an increase of 54% over the 1.3 million people treated
the year before, meaning that about 28% of those in need now
receive the drugs.
''The encouraging
progress that was made...has been sustained,'' Charlie
Gilks, head of WHO's HIV treatment department, told
reporters in Geneva. One of the main reasons for the
success is the significant drop in the cost of drugs,
he said.
Price competition
from manufacturers of generic drugs has forced
pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of treatment.
Negotiations between governments, drugmakers, and
nongovernmental organizations to offer cheaper
treatment to poor countries have also paid off, he said.
Another reason
for the increase in access is greater political commitment
by governments and better funding for treatment through
programs such as the U.S. President's Emergency Plan
and the intergovernmental Global Fund, Gilks added.
''We have every reason to believe that this success
will continue,'' he said, though he warned that greater
effort is needed if the U.N. is to reach its target of
universal access in three years' time.
While Latin
America leads the way with treatment available for 72% of
those who need it, sub-Saharan Africa has also made
significant progress and now provides the drugs to 28%
of people who need them, up from only 2% in 2003.
The lowest access
rate in poor countries is in North Africa and the
Middle East, where about 6% of people who need HIV drugs
receive them, the report says.
Gilks said
greater access to treatment for children and better
prevention of mother-to-child transmission need to be
tackled as well. At present, only 15% of children in
need have access to drugs, partly because of
difficulties diagnosing HIV in infants. (AP)
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