AFRICA: Boehringer-Ingelheim Begins Shipping Free Doses of AIDS Drug

German pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim has finally come up with a way to act on its offer to provide Viramune free of charge to help African countries prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reported on Friday.

Since the company announced its offer last year, it had been “frustrated” that few countries or health programmes came forward to accept the offer. But according to the Journal, a new application process developed by Dublin-based Axios International “addresses several major stumbling blocks that have impeded access to Viramune”. Under the application process, governments and private non-profit organisations must demonstrate that they can “manage the logistics of getting the medicines to the patients who need them.” Axios CEO Joseph Saba said that the process “allows us to help determine how many mothers they can serve, and to overcome obstacles, such as import licenses and duties, that had been in the way.” Boehringer-Ingelheim has already shipped 18,600 doses of the drug to eight health programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal and Zimbabwe and expects to ship another 31,400 doses to seven health centres in six other countries. The company is reviewing applications from other programmes, including some in South Africa.

LINK: World Bank releases update on HIV/AIDS:
http://www.worldbank.org/developmentnews/stories/html/090701a.htm

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