AIDS Drug Production Will Continue Promises India
The trade agreement between the European Union and India will not affect India’s production of HIV/AIDS treatment medication.
The free-trade agreement could be worth $134 billion annually, but there is widespread relief that India has promised not to allow any deal to prevent the availability of cheaper treatment.
"The government of India reaffirms its full commitment to ensure that quality generic medicines, including anti-retroviral drugs, are seamlessly available, and to make them available to all countries," India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
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"India will also use the flexibilities allowed under (the copyright pact) TRIPS, including the use of compulsory licensing, to ensure that people living with HIV have access to all life-saving medicines," Sharma added.
Without India’s contribution of anti-retroviral drugs, the world’s poor would not have access to the necessary HIV/AIDS treatment because prices would soar.
Per person, the generic treatments cost $137 per year, and it is estimated that 15 million people in middle- to low-income countries are eligible for ARVs and that only 6.6 million have access.
The news comes as welcome relief to those in need with HIV/AIDS, as 86 percent of the pharmaceuticals needed are produced in India and will still be available regardless of trade negotiations.
