MSF slams drugmakers for shutting down HIV drug discount programs in mid-income countries

Several pharmaceutical companies have abandoned HIV drug discount programs in middle-income countries, according to an HIV drug price report released by the international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) at the International AIDS Society Conference in Rome, Italy, yesterday.

The report, titled Untangling the Web of ARV Price Reductions, analyses the prices of 23 antiretrovirals with information provided by 19 manufacturers and shows continued trends of price reductions for drugs not blocked by patents.

“While there is continued progress to reduce prices for the poorest countries, a significant number of people with HIV/AIDS live in countries that are now excluded from price reductions,” said Nathan Ford, medical director of MSF’s Campaign for Access to Affordable Medicines.