Posts
A recent study argued that although
antiretroviral (ARV) treatment is available at relatively low prices in lowest
income countries—those with gross national incomes (GNI) of less than US $1,025
per person per year—many middle-income countries with large HIV epidemics are
paying very high prices because no established system exists for fair ARV
pricing for these middle-income countries. In fact, no consistent correlation
exists between drug prices and GNI for middle-income countries.
The study compared the cost of
treatment with six key ARVs with the per capita annual GNI of countries in
three income levels: low income, low-medium income, and medium income. The six
low-income countries (GNI equal to or less than US $1,025 per person) were
Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Cambodia. The six low-medium
countries (GNI US $1,026–$4,035 per person) were Nigeria, Vietnam, India, the
Philippines, Indonesia, and Ukraine. The eight medium-income countries (GNI US
$4,036–$12,475 per person) were Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Thailand,
China, Malaysia, Brazil, and Russia. The ARVs in the study included nevirapine,
efavirenz, tenofovir, AZT/3TC, tenofovir/FTC, and lopinavir/ritonavir,
including brand-name and generic versions.
The median cost of treatment per
person per year in African higher middle-income countries for efavirenz (600
milligrams once daily) was US $60 (ranges US $51–$69), while in non-African
countries the cost was US $241—four times higher. The price of efavirenz in
non-African countries ranged from US $57 in Brazil to US $784 in Malaysia. The
trend was the same for all the other ARVs the researchers examined. Malaysia,
which had the third highest GNI of the medium-income countries, paid the
highest price for ARVs, except for the drug tenofovir, for which Brazil paid
the highest price.
Although upper-middle-income
countries are expected to pay higher prices, the range in prices across
upper-middle-income countries shows wide discrepancies. Dr. Andrew Hill, a
senior research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of
Liverpool and author of the study, concluded that a new ARV pricing system was
necessary for all middle-income countries with large HIV epidemics.
The abstract, “Is the Pricing of
Antiretrovirals Equitable? Analysis of Antiretroviral Drug Prices in 20 Low and
Middle Income Countries,” was presented at the Seventh International AIDS
Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment, and Prevention, June 30–July
3, 2013, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is available online at: http://pag.ias2013.org/Abstracts.aspx?SID=72&AID=3102.
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!
