Museveni Backs AIDS Drug Companies

Jun 11, 2001

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said pharmaceutical companies should not be pressurised to reduce AIDS drug prices before they have recovered research and development costs.

By Charles Wendo and Felix Osike PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said pharmaceutical companies should not be pressurised to reduce AIDS drug prices before they have recovered research and development costs. Museveni was yesterday launching a multi-million dollar regional centre for AIDS training and treatment in Africa, at the Kampala International Conference Centre. The US$11.7m (sh21b) complex funded by the leading American pharmaceutical company, the Pfizer Foundation, is to be constructed at the Makerere University Medical School by the end of the year. The newly formed Alliance for AIDS Care in Africa, an association of Ugandan and North American medical experts, initiated the project. The centre is to train medical doctors from all over Africa on the latest treatment options and bring the highest standard of care to the patients. Museveni said putting pressure on the companies to provide the medicines free or at low prices without recovering their costs would kill research. He said instead world governments should fundraise to meet the research and development costs so that the companies can sell the drugs at low costs. "I am not part of that group which thinks you are philanthropists. I know you are in the business of drugs to make money," he said. He said he had made the proposal to the UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot when he visited Uganda recently. The Pfizer Executive Director, Henry McKinnel, the Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof John Ssebuwufu, the Director General of Health Services Prof. Francis Omaswa and co-directors of the alliance, Prof. Nelson Sewankambo of Makerere University and Prof. Marle Sande of the University of Utah, USA, attended. They later addressed a joint press conference. Museveni said taxes should not be levied on facilities and drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment and control. "There will be no taxes for drugs or equipment for the centre. You can not tax life-saving drugs and facilities. There are other things you should tax first like shoes, cars and wine," he said. The alliance is in negotiations with companies that manufacture anti-retroviral drugs so that it will have supplies on hand when the clinic opens early next year. Museveni said, "This new centre is an important step for Africa as we seek to control the AIDS pandemic and improve the quality of care." He added, "This new approach will complement the work our own doctors are doing and can have a positive impact across Africa." He appealed to Western scientists to work with herbalists in Uganda in order to test the effectiveness of some of the local medicines and extract the active component for manufacture of medicines. McKinnel said, "I am confident the new clinic, staffed by leading experts from around the globe, will play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS not only in Uganda but across Africa." Pfizer also pledged to donate an unspecified amounts of fluconazole for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis, one of the most deadly complications of HIV/AIDS. The centre is expected to train 80 doctors from all over Africa every year and care for over 50,000 patients. "Our goal is to strengthen medical infrastructure, replicate it across Africa and bring the latest medicines to bear on treating this disease so that African doctors and nurses can offer modern AIDS care to their patients," Sewankambo said. Sande said, "The Academic Alliance is a ground-breaking effort because it is the first large-scale AIDS training and treatment program aimed at improving care for patients who typically have no resources or access to even rudimentary medical help." Ends

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