Medical companies to discount HIV testing for poor

An agreement with five medical technology companies could help reduce the cost of treating HIV-positive people in Africa and the Caribbean by up to 80 percent, former US President Bill Clinton has said.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Clinton said the deal could affect 90 percent of the HIV-positive population in the Caribbean and up to one-third of people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking from his office in New York, Clinton said: "We're systematically changing the economics of HIV/AIDS treatment in places where, before now, very, very few people have been able to receive care."

Under the agreement, the five companies will within the next month be taking bids to set up HIV/AIDS testing laboratories in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and a number of other Caribbean islands.