Legislation promises cheaper drugs for AIDS patients

The Kenyan parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill which looks set to reduce the cost of essential AIDS treatment significantly. The Industrial Property Bill will allow the government to import or manufacture cheaper copies of brand-name drugs, including the anti-retrovirals (ARVs) used in the drug cocktail used to fight AIDS, according to campaigners for the affordable availability of drugs. The move made Kenya the second African country to adopt such legislation, after South Africa, where some of the world’s biggest drugs companies in April dropped an embarrassing lawsuit contesting a law that could provide cheaper drugs to millions, according to news reports. Indra van Gisbergen, a lawyer for the Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines, told IRIN on Thursday that at least 50 percent of the anti-retrovirals used in Kenya were currently under patent. Only 1,000 to 2,000 AIDS patients were currently receiving ARV treatment locally, but the new legislation should lead to much wider access to AIDS drugs, she said. Although the expected price falls were unlikely on their own to be enough to provide ARVs to the poorest AIDS patients in Kenya, access among the middle classes would be greatly improved, van Gisbergen said. “This is a breakthrough,” she added. However, there has been skepticism among drugs manufacturers this week regarding the real benefits the legislation was likely to bring. Director-General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Associations, Harvey Bale, was on Wednesday quoted by Reuters news agency as saying that the legislation was “a political event that will not make any difference to the health care being received by the Kenyans.” Bale, whose organisation represents industry associations in 60 countries, told Reuters that some 80 percent of the drugs currently in use in Kenya to fight AIDS were unpatented, and that the remaining medicines were being sold by the companies locally at the same price as copied versions. An editorial in Thursday’s ‘Daily Nation’ newspaper warned Kenyans that while the Industrial Property Bill had provided a rare example of the government showing leadership on a crucial issue, the availability of new drug cocktails was not a panacea for the AIDS crisis. The new drug regimes that may become available could alleviate suffering and prolong life for those with HIV/AIDS, but the public campaign must continue to push the prevention message, it said. “It will be important to emphasise over and over again that prevention remains the only way,” the paper added.