AIDS Treatment Still Out of Reach in Kenya Despite New Law

Four months after a law was passed to ease access to cheaper drugs used to treat Kenyans with AIDS, the drugs are still too expensive for most who need them, campaigners said last Wednesday. The new law allows the government to bypass pharmaceutical company patents to provide cheaper drugs to the 2.2 million Kenyans infected with HIV. However, no date for the law's application has been officially announced, according to the activists. They also pointed out the government has not followed through with other promises, such as improving doctors' training and lab facilities, as well as opening negotiations with drug companies.

According to Chris Ouma, a doctor working with Action Aid, 800,000 Kenyans have died of AIDS since the law was passed on June 12. Ouma noted the "contrast" between the situation in Kenya and the speed with which the United States and Canada struck deals with a drug company for products used to treat anthrax: "We have had AIDS in Kenya for 17 years and 2.2 million people are affected. How long will we have to wait to start as a country to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies?" The ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization, which opened in Qatar on Friday, is expected to examine trade-related aspects of intellectual property, or TRIPS, a field of international trade that is key to campaigns for improving access to essential medicines in the developing world.

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