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On September 3, Indonesia’s
President Dr. H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a decree authorizing the
government’s use of patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis medicines. By
doing so, the Indonesian government expanded access to medicines that will help
save and improve the lives of people with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B.
If fully implemented, the measure
will introduce widespread generic competition and generate major cost savings
in the world’s fourth most populous country. The decree licenses patents for
several HIV medicines, and represents one of the most robust uses of
pharmaceutical patent licensing power by a country since the World Trade
Organization’s 1995 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights.
The presidential decree greatly
expands Indonesia’s access to newer and more appropriate antiviral and
antiretroviral treatments, including efavirenz, abacavir, didanosin, lopinavir
+ ritonavir, tenofovir, tenofovir + emtricitabine, and tenofovir +
emtricitabine + efavirenz.
For more information, including a
copy of the decree (in Indonesian and an unofficial English translation), analysis,
a table of the licensed medicines, and Indonesia’s response to HIV and
hepatitis B, visit: http://www.citizen.org/actions-indonesia.
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!
