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A fast-track system is being prepared to provide safe and effective anti-AIDS drugs to developing nations under President Bush's US $15 billion AIDS relief plan, the US Health and Human Services Department has said.
Guidelines for a rapid review process to ensure the quality of drugs purchased by the US for developing countries are expected to be issued later this week by the US Food and Drug Administration.
US Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias said drug patent issues that applied in developed nations should not impede the purchase of these drugs.
Tobias was quoted by Reuters as saying: "The president has made clear that his goal is to put effective treatment into the hands of those who need it in the hardest-hit developing nations, and to provide these life-saving services as widely as possible."
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
