An adjustment to patent laws in Canada could soon allow generic versions of brand-name anti-AIDS drugs to be shipped to Africa and other developing regions struggling with the pandemic.
The minister of industry, Allan Rock, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "On Thursday we will [present] significant legislation that is going to change Canada's patent laws - including drug laws - to permit Canadian generic companies [to exports anti-AIDS drugs]."
Research shows that brand-name treatment in North America costs between US $8,000 and $15,000 per person a year, compared with an average annual cost of about $250 per person for treating HIV/AIDS patients in Africa with generic drugs.
Rock could not give precise details of the legislation and said it was hard to predict when Parliament would give its final approval.
It is estimated that over the last two decades some 15 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have died of AIDS-related illnesses.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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