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Duty waiver urged on anti-AIDS drugs

    JOHANNESBURG

    Pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has urged Nigeria's federal government to waive import duty on anti-AIDS drugs, a local newspaper, This Day, reported.

    GSK general manager for West and Central Africa, Karim El-Alaoui, said the waiver was necessary for further reducing the cost of drugs to those Nigerians who would not be able to benefit from the government's HIV/AIDS programme.

    The government was criticised by AIDS activists for its poor handling of the drug programme, which faltered and ran out of supplies in September last year.

    El-Alaoui said: "Today Combivir, the backbone of HIV therapy, can be obtained for as little as US nine cents per day under our preferential pricing programme. The company is currently working in partnership with over 20 establishments and corporate bodies, through which our antiretroviral drugs, including syrups, are sold at not-for-profit prices."

    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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