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Continent let down by AIDS drug firms - GSK chief

    JOHANNESBURG

    The CEO of drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Jean-Pierre Garnier, says the international pharmaceuticals industry has been too slow in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially in Africa.

    While defending GSK's policy on AIDS treatment he said Glaxo and its competitors could have acted sooner by taking the initiative to supply cheap drugs to Africa.

    In a recent interview with British newspaper, The Times, Garnier said: "We should have done it way before anybody knew there was a problem in Africa. We, I, didn't have the vision of saying, 'we must act now'."

    Garnier accused the industry of having been dominated for too long by 'techies in white coats'.

    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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