Clinton's (UN) Aids deal snubs Bush plan

[papau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,7369,1187130,00.html

Clinton's (UN) Aids deal snubs Bush plan

Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday April 7, 2004 The Guardian

The former US president Bill Clinton yesterday took a swipe at the Bush administration's close relationship with American pharmaceutical giants by announcing a deal to enable poor countries to buy cheap generic drugs and testing equipment for Aids, rather than the US companies' more expensive wares.

The deal with five generic drug companies will bring the cost of Aids drugs down to $140 (£76) per person per year and cut the cost of testing equipment by 80%. <snip>

The move runs counter to the thrust of the Bush administration's $15bn anti-Aids plan. It has become increasingly clear in recent months that the administration wants to pay only for drugs made by the big US-based pharmaceutical companies. It has been accused of trying to undermine confidence in the generic copies.

President Bush's anti-Aids supremo, the former Eli Lilly chief executive Randall Tobias, recently told Congress that there were doubts over the quality of cheap generic Aids drugs made in India and China, even though they have been approved by the World Health Organisation. The US Department of Health and Human Sciences organised a meeting last week in Botswana to re-examine the WHO's approval process. <snip>

Anti-Aids activists were delighted. "The historic Clinton Foundation drug pricing and distribution deal is a powerful slap to President Bush's arrogant attempts to limit the use of generic Aids medicines to suit the whims of his pharmaceutical backers," said Paul Davis from the US-based Health GAP.<snip>