UN agencies combine forces to promote access to quality HIV medicines

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today published the first list of HIV-related medicines that were found to meet the agency’s recommended standards, part of a joint effort by UN programmes to assess the quality of HIV drugs to help make treatment services more accessible to poor countries.

Forty products from eight branded and generic manufacturers are included in the initial phase of the project, which is managed by WHO, and supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Secretariat of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank. Today’s list includes 11 anti-retrovirals (ARVs) – which allow for several triple therapy combinations – and five products for opportunistic infections.

“The project demonstrates the vital contributions research-based and generic companies can make to innovation, quality, and access to life-saving medicines,” said WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland. “We want to see an expansion in people's access to quality health care, particularly in relation to those diseases, like HIV/AIDS, that keep them poor and prevent the economic development of their communities.”

The Access to Quality HIV/AIDS Drugs and Diagnostics project is part of a UN-wide strategy to improve access to HIV treatment and is meant to promote rational use of drugs, affordable prices for medicines and diagnostics, sustainable financing and reliable health and supply systems, the agencies said in a joint statement.

Pharmaceutical products are evaluated according to WHO recommended standards of quality and for compliance with good manufacturing practices, and other drugs and suppliers will be added to the list as they meet the set standards. The list is now available on the websites of WHO and the other collaborating agencies. Eight companies have been evaluated so far but another 13, as well as 100 products, are currently under review.

According to the agencies, HIV/AIDS has become the leading cause of mortality in Africa. Out of the 40 million people worldwide living with AIDS, 28 million are in Africa, while the disease is rapidly spreading in Asia and the Pacific. An estimated 7.1 million people in the region are now living with HIV/AIDS.