More Progress on Drug Prices

The latest round of multicountry negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers has brought reductions of 15–55 percent on prices for the antiretroviral drugs used most commonly in Latin America.

The price cuts have lowered the cost of basic treatment for HIV/AIDS to as low as $241 per person per year, down from $350 per year in 2003. The cost of one of the most complex treatments was cut from nearly $2,500 to $1,123 per year per patient.

The cuts have moved the region closer to becoming the first developing region to offer antiretroviral treatment to all who need it.

The cuts were negotiated in August during talks between 26 pharmaceutical firms and 11 Latin American governments: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The negotiations were carried out by the countries' ministries of health with support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as well as representatives of associations of people living with HIV, civil society groups, and the Clinton Foundation.

The August round followed an earlier negotiating round in Peru in 2003 involving 10 countries and eight laboratories. In both rounds, producers of both trademark and generic drugs participated, along with producers of diagnostic and monitoring reagents.

In addition to supporting the price negotiations, PAHO is assisting its member countries with needs assessment and procurement of antiretroviral drugs.

An estimated 1.6 million people have HIV in Latin America. Of these, some 354,000 need antiretroviral treatment, and 80 percent are receiving that treatment, in contrast to Africa and Asia, where only 10 percent of those who need antiretroviral therapy are receiving it.

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