13/05/2004

African health ministers launch appeal for low-cost AIDS drugs

The right to lifesaving drug therapy is a human right for all people, said African government health ministers meeting in Rome.

Some 14 government officials representing 13 African nations launched a fresh appeal to the world's rich countries to help fund and reduce costs for antiretroviral drugs in their fight against HIV/AIDS.

The May 13 appeal, called the "Protocol of Rome," said: "The therapy that allows people to coexist with the virus and to live well, too, is available, but only for the rich world. The right to live, however, cannot depend on geography.

"The right to the therapy is a new human right. ... We ask for this in the name of an intelligent globalization, capable of globalizing solidarity as well," said the appeal.

Seventy percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS live in Africa; the virus has affected some 30 million men, women and children there.

Without urgent action in prevention and proper treatment, those numbers will increase, the appeal said.

The signing and launch of the protocol were organized by the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic lay organization. It came after the African officials met at a May 12 Sant'Egidio-sponsored international conference, where they highlighted their needs and new strategies in the fight against AIDS.

Many of the African officials invited to Rome represented nations where proper treatment is sorely lacking for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

Sudanese Health Minister Ahmed Ballal Osman told Catholic News Service, "We have about 20,000 people who have submitted cases for treatment, but we haven't any access for treatment at all yet."

He said Sudan -- like many African nations -- does not have the resources to pay for the expensive antiretroviral treatment programs needed to fight the pandemic.

But a project started by Sant'Egidio, called Dream, offers for free the full triple cocktail of antiretroviral drugs standard in Europe and North America. It also offers HIV testing, counseling and follow-up care on a par with Western standards.

The program, launched in 2002 in Mozambique, has caught the attention of international organizations and governments for its effectiveness.

"For between $300 and $800, we can offer complete treatment for one person for a full year. That is not an impossible cost for rich countries" to sponsor, said Mario Marazziti, spokesman for the community.

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is trying to help Sant'Egidio get some of the money earmarked by U.S. President George W. Bush in his $15 billion anti-AIDS program.

By working with generic drug manufacturers, the Dream project has been able to offer top-quality treatment for substantially lower costs, Marazziti said.

But he told CNS that generic companies do not produce the newer drugs needed for patients who develop resistance to the main AIDS drugs.

"We cannot think we will win the war against AIDS without involvement by the big pharmaceuticals" who are at the forefront of research and new drugs, he said.

"They have a right to keep prices high in the first world, to make a profit so as to fund their research, but they must guarantee the right to live to those who have no possibility to buy these drugs," he said.

"It is a strange world that makes money off of the illnesses of others, but it is also a world that helps people live," said Marazziti.

He said three major pharmaceutical companies are in the development stage of creating a new cocktail treatment for the Dream project in Africa.

"Let's create a parallel market in Africa that doesn't compete with the First World market. It's a different package, a different pill that can't be sold in the First World, but it would let Africa live," he said.

Carol Glatz