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Article: The heavy cost of Malaria and AIDS.(Africa)
- Article from:
- African Business
- Article date:
- July 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In May, the United Nations AIDS Programme (UNAids) announced that an agreement had been reached with five of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers (Glaxo Wellcome, Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers, Boehringer Ingeiheim and Roche Holding) to provide HIV and AIDS medicines at a reduced cost to poor countries.
Peter Piot, the UNAids programme director, described the agreement as "groundbreaking". But cheaper drugs alone cannot be expected to curb the spread of the two diseases that are taking an increasing toll on the human and economic development of Africa: AIDS and malaria.
It is not a coincidence that this agreement on cheaper medicines was ...