[e-drug] Sources and prices of HIV/AIDS medicines and diagnostics

[Lombe Kasonde <lkasonde@unicef.org>]

E-drug: Sources and prices of HIV/AIDS medicines and diagnostics
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Dear Colleagues,

Please find below the Note for the Press announcing the release of
the latest Sources and Prices document, which can be found on
the following web sites:

     www.unicef.org/supply
     www.who.int/medicines

Lombe Kasonde
Pharmaceuticals & Micronutrients Team
UNICEF Supply Division,  Freeport
DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel: +45 35 27 30 30
Fax: +45 35 26 94 21
http://www.supply.unicef.dk

________________________________________

Sources and Prices of HIV/AIDS Medicines and Diagnostic Tests

Updated Version to Intensify Efforts Towards Greater Access to
Reliable Information

Geneva, 26 June 2003 - An updated edition of Sources and Prices
of Selected Medicines and Diagnostics for People living with
HIV/AIDS will be released today. The report provides market
information on 74 reviewed products for the treatment and
management of HIV/AIDS from 61 manufacturers.

The report gives purchasers of AIDS medicines and diagnostics a
range of choices related to suppliers and affordability. The
medicines included were selected on the basis of WHO standard
treatment guidelines. The list is not exhaustive but covers the most
commonly used HIV/AIDS medicines, with paediatric forms
included wherever possible.

Improving access to medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS is a
challenge for all countries but especially for developing ones. By
the end of 2002, UNAIDS estimated that 42 million people in the
world were living with HIV/AIDS and that over 95% of these were in
poor nations. Last year, 3.1 million people died of the disease,
many of them because they had no access to treatment.

While high prices constitute one of the main barriers to accessing
treatment, a few recent initiatives have brought the price of certain
medicines down. However, even where affordable alternatives
exist, many decision makers do not have the information they need
to identify those manufacturers that can supply the medicines
needed. Without such information, there is a risk that low-income
countries pay more than necessary ? and sometimes more than
industrialized countries ? to obtain essential medicines.

This report is the fourth in a series of annual publications of
sources and prices surveys commenced in 1999 by UNICEF,
UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Medecins
Sans Frontieres (MSF). The present edition is the result of a survey
carried out from December 2002 through to February 2003, of 388
manufacturers in 50 different countries.

The report includes antiretroviral (ARV) medicines, medicines used
to treat a range of opportunistic infections, medicines for use in
palliative care, medicines for the treatment of HIV-related cancers
and for the management of opioid dependence. It also provides
information on a range of test kits for the diagnosis and monitoring
of HIV/AIDS.

A new section has been added on the registration status of
products in the survey. This information will be useful for countries
in the process of granting market authorization to HIV/AIDS related
products.

Finally, the latest edition of an MSF document, Untangling the Web
of Price Reductions: a pricing guide for the purchase of ARVs for
developing countries has been included as an annex to provide a
comprehensive overview of the prices of ARV medicines offered by
research-based pharmaceutical companies and some generics
manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries.

Sources and Prices 2003 can be found on the following web sites:
www.unicef.org/supply   or    www.who.int/medicines

For more information contact:
Daniela Bagozzi - Communications officer
Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals
WHO
Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 791 4544
Mobile phone: +41 79 4755490
Email: bagozzid@who.int
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