UNITAID welcomes and supports the publication of 'The Treatment Timebomb', a report on access to HIV/AIDS treatment in the developing world, compiled by the United Kingdom's All Parliamentary Group on AIDS, launched at the House of Commons, London.

 

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UNITAID STATEMENT ON NEW REPORT BY UK ALL PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON AIDS - 'THE TREATMENT TIMEBOMB'

Geneva, 14 July 2009 UNITAID welcomes and supports the publication of 'The Treatment Timebomb', a report on access to HIV/AIDS treatment in the developing world, compiled by the United Kingdom's All Parliamentary Group on AIDS, launched today at the House of Commons, London.

Stressing the need for increased funding to continue scaling up access to HIV medicines and ensure continuity of treatment for many decades to come, the report highlights rich countries' responsibility to make global trade rules - largely skewed towards rich country interests - work better for the poor. 

In particular, the report pushes for intensified action in the areas of drug price reductions and research and development into new and better medicines, including combination therapies - necessary for children, patients who have developed resistance to older medicines and pregnant women with HIV who risk transmission to their infants.

UNITAID welcomes the report's recommendation that pharmaceutical companies contribute to the UNITAID patent pool initiative - an innovative model to manage patents for HIV medicines - as a concrete step to increase access and innovation, in particular the development of affordable new combination therapies and medicines for children.

The United Kingdom International Development Minister, Mike Foster, said:
 
The pharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to act now to help prevent future human catastrophe. It is time for them to state their clear commitment to make new HIV medicines affordable to those who need them most, by working with UNITAID to develop a patent pool

"We need to stay ahead of the game," said Ellen 't Hoen, Senior Adviser on Intellectual Property at UNITAID, "and devise mechanisms for drug innovation and access for today's and tomorrow's needs. The UNITAID patent pool initiative will do exactly that - help to decrease the cost of new AIDS medicines and spur the development of better adapted treatments for adults and children."

Currently, only a third of people needing HIV treatment access it, with many failing on their first-line therapy and requiring newer, better medicines. Among them, children are those who fare worst, with only 10% of the two million requiring treatment today actually receiving it. The report describes how by 2030 over 50 million people will need HIV treatment compared to just 9 million who need it today.

The report's 'time bomb' theme coincides with UNITAID's approach to scaling up treatment and diagnosis for the three major diseases - malaria and tuberculosis, as well as HIV/AIDS. Using a novel approach to collecting funds (largely through an air travel tax) and targeting specific niche areas underserved by markets - paediatric treatment, second-line medicines, more effective diagnostics - UNITAID provides a creative operational model that impacts on markets through bulk purchasing and by stimulating competition among drug manufacturers. These in turn push up production volumes, bring prices down and drive the development of medicines better suited to patients in developing countries.

In less than three years, UNITAID has committed close to a billion dollars to the purchase of tests and patient-adapted medicines and has funded the treatment of three out of four children living with HIV/AIDS on therapy today. 

UNITAID was established to provide additional funding to support existing efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The additional funding comes primarily from a solidarity contribution on airline tickets. Through implementing partners, UNITAID channels its funds to purchasing tests and medicines of assured quality and ensuring fast delivery to the patients who most need them - those in low- and middle-income countries. Launched in September 2006, UNITAID was founded by the governments of Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom. Today it is supported by 29 countries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Contact:
Geneva - Daniela Bagozzi, UNITAID, tel. +41 22 791 45 44; Mob. +41 79 475 54 90; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
London - Ellen 't Hoen, UNITAID, Mob. + 41 79 509 0679; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read the report at: http://www.aidsportal.org/Article_Details.aspx?ID=10820