Free AIDS drug programme spurned

A strong political will is needed to effectively tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, German pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim has said. In a recent statement, Boehringer-Ingelheim said only two African countries had accepted its offer of the free supply of nevirapine for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Company chairman, Rolf Krebs, said: "We are not at all satisfied with how the programme is running." He said heavy customs charges, poor logistics and a lack of the necessary health care infrastructure were some of the reasons why the rest of the continent had not taken part in the programme. Krebs said steps were being taken to simplify the application process, following international criticism of the complicated bureaucracy of the programme.