The Thai government plans to give free HIV drugs to 10,000 patients by September, expanding the Access to Care program now covering 3,000 people, thanks to a cheap new antiretroviral cocktail it started producing this year, officials said Friday. Dr. Taweesap Siraprapasiri, director of the AIDS division of the Public Health Ministry, said more people would be covered in the program because of a single-pill HIV cocktail combining three generic drugs that a Thai pharmaceutical company started producing in March. Patients currently take imported drugs for 20,000 baht ($490) per person per month. Taweesap said that if the expanded program is successful, the government plans to add the antiretroviral program to the country's new health care program, which provides treatment to Thais for 30 baht (73 cents) per hospital visit.

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