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On September 3, Indonesia’s
government quietly issued an order to override patents on seven important
medicines used to treat individuals with HIV and hepatitis B, which will allow
more inexpensive versions to be manufactured by local pharmaceutical companies.
There appeared to be no protest from
the pharmaceutical giants, who in the past would have defended their patents
very aggressively. The drug patents belong to Merck, GSK, Bristol-Myers Squibb,
Abbott, and Gilead. The drugs include Glaxo ’s Abacavir, Abbott’s Kaletra, and
Gilead’s tenofovir (Viread) which treats hepatitis B as well as providing the
primary prevention treatment for those whose partners are HIV positive.
Indonesia’s HIV incidence rate is
not particularly high—UNICEF estimates that nearly 310,000 individuals are
infected—but it does have the fourth highest population in the world and the
virus continues to spread. Only approximately 23,000 of the 70,000 individuals
infected with HIV who need drug treatment are getting it.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
