[e-drug] pharmaceutical industry statements at UNGASS

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E-DRUG: pharmaceutical industry statements at UNGASS
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[crossposted from DRUGINFO with thanks. NN]

Hi all

Those wanting more information/coverage of the UN General
Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, which ends today (27
June) can access it via http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/

Below is an industry press release (dated 25 June) - see
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2001/hivaidstreatbrief.doc.ht
m - contains an interesting comment from Dr Bale (IFPMA) that
"Governments, up until recently, had not been playing their
partnership role".

regards

Andy

Andy Gray
Discipline Chair: Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology
University of Durban-Westville
email: andy@healthlink.org.za
Tel: +27 31 2044358 Fax: +27 31 2044792

~~~~~

25 June 2001

PRESS BRIEFING ON ACCESS OF POOR COUNTRIES TO
HIV/AIDS TREATMENTS

The leading international research-based pharmaceutical
companies support strengthening the ability of the poorest
countries to access health care prevention strategies and
treatment, according to a statement distributed by the International
Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers at a Headquarters
press briefing this afternoon related to the General Assembly's
special session on HIV/AIDS.

Those companies remained committed to continuing their
productive partnerships, including philanthropic activity, in the
search for solutions to the access challenge, the statement said.

At the press briefing were Dr. Rolf Krebs, Chairman of the Board of
Managing Directors of Boehringer Ingelheim of Germany, and Dr.
Harvey Bale of the Geneva-based International Federation of
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations, which represents 60
national bodies.

The proposed "global fund" -- combining primarily public funds with
voluntary private sector contributions -- could make a substantial
positive contribution to the global fight against the spread of
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the statement said.

Strict criteria for the use of funds would have to be put in place
along with measures to ensure accountability. Conditions for
success in the establishment and use of the fund would have to
include strong political commitment by governments to the
strategy; funding additional existing funds available for health care
and development and involvement of all sectors of the countries
seeking assistance, including non-governmental organizations
(NGOs). The organization also underlined the encouragement of
research and development and respect for intellectual property.

It said the use of funds should be allocated according to national
priorities and programmes overseen and based upon best
practices. The industry's major contribution remained its research
and development efforts, and programmes to expand access to
treatments, including in-kind contributions.

Responding to questions, Dr. Bale said pharmaceutical companies
had over the past year offered lower prices for their products as part
of a partnership with Governments. "But the partnership has to be
a partnership where Governments are doing their part". He added
that Governments, up until recently, had not been playing their
partnership role. There had been more attention on pharmaceutical
prices and more emphasis on getting access to pharmaceutical
products he said, and added: "I have to say it is a large public
failure. I think it is being corrected now". He said there was no
price at which many millions of people could get access to drugs,
because the costs were very high.

He said he thought the problem was, hopefully, now being
addressed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for a global
fund. He hoped the public sector would respond.

Dr. Bale also told a questioner that the key contribution the
pharmaceutical companies would continue to make was in the area
of research and development.

They were spending annually more than $50 billion in research, and
developing new pharmaceutical products, including vaccines.
There were more than 100 HIV/AIDS products in the research
pipeline, including vaccines. The critical issue was the provision of
intellectual property protection for their new inventions. It was
absolutely essential, he said, adding that without that there would
not be the development of the kind of product that was hoped for
over the next five or ten years.

Dr. Krebs said AIDS was spreading, and there was not much time.
The pharmaceutical industry had to come up with better, effective
vaccines. It was not scientifically an easy task. There was no
cure for the disease, only its stabilization. The industry had to
come up with a cure as soon as possible, he said.

>From their perspective, he said, the ongoing debate concerning
prevention and treatment was not a realistic one. There were more
than 30 million infected people who could not be ignored. He also
welcomed the proposed global fund, and stressed that education of
patients was also important, as well as the establishment of
medical infrastructures.

The pharmaceutical industry was committed to producing drugs at
low prices, he said. A lot of activity was going on in laboratories
for
the production of drugs not only for AIDS, but other infectious
diseases as well, he stated.




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