#AIDS2016: Old drugs may be cheaper, but new ones are out of reach

One thousand volunteers " about 200 from around the world " have been helping organisers of the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban to make sure the massive gathering runs smoothly. The picture was taken by local cameraman, Abhi Indrarajan, who came to Durban from Sri Lanka 16 years ago to work as a volunteer at the first Aids conference in the city. Dr Memory Muturiki, head of the Aids 2016 local office, said the volunteers had been a 'huge help', making sure everything ran on time.

One thousand volunteers " about 200 from around the world " have been helping organisers of the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban to make sure the massive gathering runs smoothly. The picture was taken by local cameraman, Abhi Indrarajan, who came to Durban from Sri Lanka 16 years ago to work as a volunteer at the first Aids conference in the city. Dr Memory Muturiki, head of the Aids 2016 local office, said the volunteers had been a 'huge help', making sure everything ran on time.

Published Jul 22, 2016

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Durban - While HIV drug prices have declined significantly, international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that future declines are under threat.

The lowest available price for first-line HIV treatment has dropped by 26% since 2014, costing poorer countries, as well as South Africa, $100 (about R1 418) a person a year for the one-pill-a-day combination (tenofovir, emtricitabine and efavirenz), according to an MSF report released on Thursday at the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban.

Second-line treatment, which HIV patients need if they become resistant to first-line drugs, has also dropped 11% from two years ago – the lowest combination available costs $286, thanks to strong competition between generic manufacturers, especially in India.

This generic competition has driven the price of HIV treatment down by 99% since 2000, when a first-line regimen cost $10 000 a person per year.

But the lowest price for third-line or “salvage treatment”, which contains newer HIV drugs on patent, is $1 859, almost 20 times the price of the cheapest first-line regimen. This is because drug companies have monopolies on patented products which block generic competition, often for decades.

According to MSF’s Claire Waterhouse, the number of people needing salvage treatment in South Africa is low. They estimate the figure to be close to 1 000.

“However, as we move to test and treat (in September) and scale up viral load monitoring, these numbers are bound to increase and it is essential we can access these medicines affordably,” she said.

“Right now all of them remain on patent and are very expensive.”

According to the report, India is “facing immense pressure to roll back its pro-health patent policies – which put people’s lives over corporate profits – especially from the United States, backed by its pharmaceutical corporation lobby”.

Waterhouse said this was an urgent threat for South Africa because it imported most of its generic medicines from India, which had a strong patent system protecting its generic industry.

“So, if they shut down the ‘pharmacy of the developing world’, as India is now known, it will become much more difficult for South Africa to procure affordable medicines for our high disease burdens,” she added

“It’s essential that they stand strong against this pressure.”

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