French Medical Volunteer Group Calls for Worldwide Adoption of Anti-AIDS Drugs

The French medical volunteers, Médècins sans Frontiéres (MSF -- Doctors Without Borders) on Wednesday called on governments worldwide to provide treatment with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to fight AIDS.

"Since prices of ARV drugs have fallen, and will continue to fall as a result of public pressure and generic competition, there is now no excuse not to start ARV treatment wherever possible," said Bernard Pecoul, MSF director of generic treatments, in a statement.

Pecoul stressed that governments from developing countries must show leadership, and donor countries must give the financial support to set up drug treatment initiatives. "The first ARV treatment trials have been very encouraging: although the treatment is no miracle cure, it prolongs and improves patients' quality of life," MSF said.

In Brazil, where very effective anti-AIDS programs are in place, ARV has produced a $472 million saving for the government because fewer AIDS patients needed hospitalization or treatment for related diseases, MSF said. "We've seen the quality of our patients' lives improve drastically. Thanks to the treatment, they suffer from fewer opportunistic infections and can return to work and take care of their families again," said the MSF coordinator of projects in Guatemala Belen Pedrique.

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