Bringing cheaper HIV drugs to India
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: It’s World AIDS Day. Former president Clinton observed the day in India. India’s home to the world’s largest HIV-positive population. Miranda Kennedy reports from New Delhi.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: More than 5 million people in India are infected with HIV, but only 10% of them are being treated for it.
Low-cost versions of anti-retroviral drugs for AIDS patients have been available for years, but governments in many countries, including India, still can’t afford them.
Bill Clinton traveled to a hospital in New Delhi to announce that his foundation has negotiated a way to lower the price of AIDS drugs for children.
BILL CLINTON: The increased demand for pediatric medicine has enabled us to work with pharmaceutical companies to further reduce the cost of the medicine. We have negotiated a reduction in the annual cost to treat a child to less than $60 a year, a cut of more than two-thirds.
Clinton’s foundation will work with governments on a $50 million program to get 100,000 children on anti-AIDS drugs by the end of next year. Over 10,000 of them will be kids in India.
In New Delhi, I’m Miranda Kennedy for Marketplace.
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