Broadcast Yourself. Bernie Sanders Offers Plan To Cut Prescription Drug Prices. WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is promoting a new plan to encourage the development of better, cheaper prescription drugs: an innovation fund rewarding companies for inventing important new HIV and AIDS medications. In exchange for accepting an innovation award, drugmakers would agree to sell their new medicines at low prices.
Drugs developed over the past two decades have dramatically improved life expectancy for those living with HIV, but the medications remain unaffordable in many nations hit hardest by the epidemic. High drug costs also hamper relief programs In the U.S., where 2,759 low-income Americans are currently on waiting lists seeking treatment, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. Drug prices are dramatically inflated by the restrictive American patent system, which grants companies long-term monopolies on new drugs they develop. Sanders' proposal enjoys support from public health experts.
And so is the Obama administration. Facebook. FDA favors first drug for HIV prevention. Associated Press Posted: 05/08/2012 09:55:05 AM PDT0 Comments|Updated: about a year ago WASHINGTON -- Federal drug regulators on Tuesday affirmed landmark study results showing that a popular HIV-fighting pill can also help healthy people avoid contracting the virus that causes AIDS in the first place. While the pill appears safe and effective for prevention, scientists stressed that it only works when taken on a daily basis. The Food and Drug Administration will hold a meeting Thursday to discuss whether Truvada should be approved for people who are at risks of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse. The agency's positive review posted Tuesday suggests the daily pill will become the first drug approved to prevent HIV infection in high-risk patients. FDA reviewers conclude that taking Truvada pre-emptively could spare patients "infection with a serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment.
" AIDS Healthcare: Our newest billboard in #S... Confidential, free, HIV Testing. Find a testing location near you. Change. I just signed the following petition addressed to: Hershey Company. Dear Hershey Board Members: Robert Cavanaugh, James Mead & James Nevels, I am disturbed by the AIDS discrimination demonstrated by the Hershey Company and the Milton Hershey School by the rejection of a 13-year-old boy for admission due to his HIV-positive status.
I am committed to participating in a boycott of Hershey and will... I am disturbed by the AIDS discrimination demonstrated by the Hershey Company and the Milton Hershey School by the rejection of a 13-year-old boy for admission due to his HIV-positive status. I am committed to participating in a boycott of Hershey and will not purchase any Hershey candy until the company has denounced this discriminatory act and facilitated the enrollment of the boy at the school. Hershey claims that it rejected the student because it "cannot accommodate the needs of students with chronic communicable diseases that pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others. " Executive Director calls for greater local production of HIV medicines in Ghana. UNAIDS Executive Director calls for greater local production of HIV medicines in Ghana 24 February 2012 UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé (left) met with the President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana on 24 February in Accra.
Credit: UNAIDS/R.Chintoh Meeting today with John Evans Atta Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé sounded a theme from his recent missions in Bénin and Togo: sustainability of the AIDS response in Africa. Noting that a vast majority of antiretroviral medicines consumed in Africa are imported from overseas, Mr Sidibé underscored the urgent need for home-grown solutions to ensure the long-term availability of these drugs at affordable prices. “African countries must catalyse the local production of high-quality medicines,” said Mr Sidibé, while meeting with President Mills at his offices in Accra. “Ghana can develop centres of excellence and lead the way in an effective continental response to HIV,” he added. Find HIV/AIDS Prevention & Service Providers. AIDS, Drug Prices and Generic Drugs. Generic antiretroviral drugs A generic version of the antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) A generic drug is an identical copy (bioequivalent) of a brand name (or proprietary) drug.
Generics are exactly the same as their branded counterparts in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. The notable difference between the two is the price. Generic antiretrovirals are now widely used to treat HIV/AIDS in the developing world. From 2005-2008, generic ARVs allowed PEPFAR to significantly scale up its procurement of ARV drugs, without a commensurate increase in its spending on ARVs. Generic drug manufacturers vs pharmaceutical industries Generic drug manufacturers incur fewer costs in creating the generic drug, as they do not have to cover the expense of drug discovery, or lengthy safety and efficacy trials.
A Stop AIDS Campaign protest to raise awareness of the importance of affordable generic medicines produced in India. Universal Access to AIDS Treatment: Targets and Challenges. In recent years, considerable energy and money have been spent trying to achieve universal access to treatment for HIV. This is part of a wider objective to provide universal access (15 million people on treatment) by 2015, as agreed in 2010. Most countries aspiring to expand treatment access set themselves a goal of providing antiretroviral treatment to around 80 percent of those in need. With current global treatment coverage at 65 percent, this treatment target as not yet been met on a global scale.
Nevertheless, a number of countries have achieved or are near achieving universal access by 2015. In 2013 global treatment recomendations changed, stating that where feasible, people with HIV should begin treatment even earlier - at 500 cells/mm3; increasing the number of people eligible for treatment by 9.2 million. Global HIV treatment targets At the beginning of the 21st century, very few people in low- and middle-income countries had access to HIV treatment. Patient retention.