Global Fund donation lowers ARV price dramatically

An international donation of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) will see a dramatic reduction in the price of the anti-AIDS medication in Guinea. The consignment of ARVs from the Global Fund will enable 150 people, including 25 children, to be treated for a year. Health minister Amara Cisse was reported as saying that the government had already reduced the cost of treatment from 900,000 Guinean francs (GF) (US $324) to GF 650,000 ($234). "With these new drugs we will further reduce costs to GF 35,000 (US $13), with the eventual aim of making them free of charge," UN news service PlusNews quoted him as saying. According to recent figures from the ministry of health, an estimated 170,000 people are living with the virus in this West African country.