Value of innovation to HIV/AIDS treatments in low- and middle-income countries

A new report from Charles River Associates provides an analysis of the factors that impact access to HIV/AIDS treatments and the role of bio-pharmaceutical innovation in low-and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs) over the past 15 years.

In the report, CRA looks at the implications in helping meet the United Nations’ goals to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. The report focuses on six countries that have made progress in providing access to antiretrovirals (ARVs) - Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Rwanda and South Africa - and identifies a number of success factors. These include dedicating resources and sustaining national disease awareness programs, as well as having an appropriate healthcare infrastructure to ensure diagnosis, testing, access to medicines and keeping patients on a course of treatment. In reviewing an extensive body of literature and official documents, the report could not determine that intellectual property rights impacted access to HIV treatment and identifies an increasing trend in the use of voluntary licensing.

While significant steps have been taken since HIV/AIDS was recognized as a global health crisis, there is relatively little evidence on the value of innovation in emerging markets. This report, commissioned by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), is intended to complement the body of knowledge on innovation and access as governments, the global health community and the private sector are engaged in efforts to meet the UN’s aim to ensure at least 90% of all people with HIV have access to ARVs by 2020 and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.