Economic Crisis Presents Opportunity to Reform Pharmaceutical Practices in Africa, Says UNAIDS Head

With an estimated 22 million people living with HIV in Africa, the demand for affordable and effective HIV/AIDS medications on the continent presents an opportunity to reform its pharmaceutical practices, Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, writes in a Mail & Guardian opinion piece. "What the continent needs is a single drug agency ... [to] guarantee the quality of medicines on the continent," Sidibe writes, adding how such changes could help to attract "private sector investment for the production of medicines within Africa" and serve as "a model for removing bottlenecks, but also for wider development that would contribute to an AIDS/MDGs movement in Africa." Sidibe concludes, "In this economic crisis African leaders have an opportunity for innovation. Let AIDS not be an obstacle. Rather let the AIDS response provide an opportunity to transform the continent (7/7).

Back to other news for July 2009