Guest guest Posted August 15, 2001 Report Share Posted August 15, 2001 Dear All, In last so many discussions & in last so many meetings held for antiretroviral drugs CIPLA & Aurbinodo immunus they are claiming that " We are the responsible to lower the prizes of ART & they promote their company. We as a fighter against HIV must know which one is doing more justice & doing hard work in this direction.Because it is our moral responsibility to support company who is really working hard on this issue. Can forum members elaborate on this issue ? Dr.Rajesh Buddhadev MD E-mail: buddhadev@... __________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 16, 2001 Report Share Posted August 16, 2001 [This is in response to Dr. Budhdeve's posting on who is responsible for lowering the cost of of ART. Moderator] Dear All, The very fact that they have offered ARV at massively reduced prices is the engine that fueled the successful global activism around this issue. Yes, they are going to make money doing this so their motivation isn't entirely humanitarian. But it seems to me that they are the more reasonable end of conducting business. Making a reasonable profit is not the problem. Price-gouging people and, worse, going out vigorously fighting access to inexpensive drugs for millions of men, women and children is viewed by many of us as a form of genocide. This is what the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (PHRMA) and companies like Glaxo Kline has sought to do. Of course, Cipla and Auribindo are not the only ones offering generics. Companies in Brazil, Thailand and New Zealand have also contributed to ending PHRMA's hostage hold on all people with HIV/AIDS. Various groups such as HealthGap and cptech have done an enormous amount in these areas. See http://www.cptech.org for more info. In my country (the US), the miserly response of the Bush administration has horrified many. While $10 billion a year may sound like a lot, from a purely economic standpoint, it is chump change--and the return on the investment in terms of saved lives and helping to prevent massive destabilization of economies from the loss of those lives makes it well worth it. Now, it is the individual governments that must come to the fore and advocate for western countries to provide the billions necessary to assure distribution. Many of us activists in the west are advocating for just that. In the developing nations, the individual governments must be held accountable for their successes and failures both in areas of prevention and treatment. In places like Zimbabwe, this may prove difficult when the leader is a psychotic who wants only to get his diamonds from the Congo. By contrast, Nigeria's Obesanjo is MUCH wiser and doing great work to help his people. What do others think about what is happening in India under the Vajpayee government? What areas need to be improved? M. E-mail:<gmc0@...> ______________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 16, 2001 Report Share Posted August 16, 2001 [This message is in reponse to " Dr. Rajesh Buhddhadevwg " <buddhadev@...> who wrote about the antiretroviral drugs CIPLA & Aurbinodo immunus as they are claiming that " We are the responsible to lower the prizes of ART & they promote their company " Moderator]. _____________________ Dear Dr. It is not important to make a distinction between these 2 companies, or for that matter between the other companies that are also ifso facto involved in the price reduction process. The reason is that there has been a cameo effect after the first announcement of price reduction by cipla. Even the withdrawl of all taxes and duties by the gvernment on ARVs is a effect of that cameo. No less significant part in all this has also been played by organisations like the lawyers collective that has started the nationwide access to drugs campaign. Coalitions like MAANN [MSM AIDS Agencies National Network] has also strongly pushed the agenda of reduction of drug prices for positive persons. INP plus and the various state networks of postive peoples have sustained the campaign. The credit and the failures should be shared by all. Any claim of sole credit by any corporate house is not true/valid. If however we get into a debate on which of these companies is doing more, then it may just sound like we are advocationg for a particular corporate house as opposed to the other [..for what reason may be questioned], when it is a joint effort of advocacy by corporate groups, human rights bodies, and AIDS agencies. Regards Aditya Bondyopadhyay E-mail: buddhadev@... ____________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 17, 2001 Report Share Posted August 17, 2001 [This is in response to Dr. Budhdeve's posting on who is responsible for lowering the cost of of ART. Moderator] In my country (the US), the miserly response of the Bush administration has horrified many. While $10 billion a year may sound like a lot, from a purely economic standpoint, it is chump change--and the return on the investment in terms of saved lives and helping to prevent massive destabilization of economies from the loss of those lives makes it well worth it. Point of clarification....the $10 billion is the annual cost calculated to vigorously address AIDS globally and provide access to treatment to nearly every person with AIDS. (Not everyone with HIV--as the US National Institutes of Health have changed their guidelines--sensibly in my view--to suggest that treatment is best when started later in the course of disease, i.e., around 350 T cells). The amount offered by the US, richest country in the world, to address the biggest threat to global health and security is a measly $200 million. Re CD4 Counts, cptech's Love noted: http://www.affordcd4.com/ M. E-mail: <gmc0@...> ________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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