Draft legislation on generic AIDS drugs welcomed

UNAIDS has welcomed draft legislation introduced by the Canadian government that allows generic versions of brand-name anti-AIDS drugs to be shipped to Africa and other developing regions. The move makes Canada the first in the group of the eight most industrialised (G8) countries to undertake legislative reform to implement an August World Trade Organisation (WTO) pact to help developing countries to obtain the medicines. UNAIDS executive director, Dr Peter Piot, said in a statement: "We applaud Canada's rapid action. It is vital that we increase global manufacturing capacity to provide accessible HIV/AIDS drugs to the millions of people who need them." Piot added: "We must prioritise greater coordination and collaboration of multilateral and bilateral donors, the private sector, NGOs and groups of people living with HIV/AIDS, to support national governments in meeting the challenge of providing HIV/AIDS therapy on this scale." UNAIDS has estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS, only one percent of people living with the HI virus has access to treatment.