Southeastern Asian Leaders to Seek Cheaper AIDS Drugs to Fight Regional Epidemic

Noting that political and economic turmoil in Southeast Asia has accelerated the spread of infection, the heads of state of 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced today that they would treat AIDS as a national priority. The declaration came during ASEAN's annual summit, attended also by leaders from China, Japan and South Korea.

More than 1.6 million people in Southeast Asia are living with HIV/AIDS. To halt what they called a rapid increase in AIDS, conference participants issued a joint statement backing the establishment of a global health fund to ensure that poor countries have equal access to expensive HIV/AIDS treatments. ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said the organization would also look into negotiating with drug companies to obtain AIDS drugs at cheaper prices, including large bulk purchases in purchasing collaborations with Thailand, India, South Africa and Brazil.

"The drug companies will have to take notice of about 500 million people in the ASEAN countries," said Marina Mahathir, head of the Malaysian AIDS Council.

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