HIV / AIDS Virus Has Term Paper

Some people are of the view that, since AIDS-infected countries are financially unstable, they are unable to purchase expensive AIDS drugs which contributes to steady growth of the disease. "More than 40 million people are infected with HIV and more than 3 million have died in 2003, UNAIDS reported last week. WHO estimates more than 5 million HIV patients need anti-retroviral drugs, but fewer than 400,000 currently have access to them." (WHO)

Since only a small percentage of patients have access to high-priced AIDS drugs, it is obvious why the rate of disease expansion hasn't decreased. But there are several political factors affecting the drug prices too. In recent months, both UN AIDS agency and WHO have taken concrete measures to address the issue of high drug prices. Their initiative led to a more effective low-priced AIDS drug that is a combination of three anti-retroviral drugs. These drugs are likely to cost a patient only $270 for one-year course. But for these drugs to reach poor AIDS-infected countries, it is extremely important to suspend drug patents currently held by two major pharmaceutical companies.

These pharmaceutical companies are aggressively attempting to stop production of low priced drugs and their export to African and Central Asian countries. "Pharmaceutical companies holding patents for AIDS drugs have fiercely fought to block generic manufacturers from impinging on their patent rights, often lobbying governments to reject the vastly cheaper alternatives in return for discounted prices." (3)

Even though these companies are well aware of the potential positive impact of low priced drugs on AIDS epidemic, they are still aggressively fighting against violent of their patents. Since they are politically powerful, it is feared that their actions would adversely affect UN and WHO initiative. Apart from the prices of drugs, other political factors include lack of seriousness and sincerity on the part of political regimes of developing countries. Since African, central Asian and most eastern European countries are still developing nations with mostly corrupt political regimes, the situation for AIDS treatment looks grim.

United States is fortunate that it has an educated majority that may not sit still if efforts fail to bear fruit. Other poorer regions have no such advantage and thus continue to suffer. The problem of AIDS in one region is the problem for the whole world. This is because the disease is highly infectious and can travel miles and miles without any reduction in power. For this reason, it is important to sincerely try to eradicate the disease from poorer regions of the world. Even in the U.S., it is the poor areas of South that are the hardest hit. And among these areas, it is the poor black population that has become the most frequent victim. AIDS and poverty are closely connected and efforts must be made to completely wipe out the disease from all areas irrespective of their political or financial standing.

References

Pedro a. Noguera. The Trouble with Black Boys: The Role and Influence of Environmental and Cultural Factors on the Academic Performance of African-American Males. Harvard University. 2003 http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er/pntroub1.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV / AIDS statistics and information 2008. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/

A. Clymer. U.S. Revises Sex Information, and a Fight Goes on. New York Times, December, 2002 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C04E4D9113CF934A15751C1A9649C8B63

Kaiser Family Foundation. U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Tobias Defends Emphasis on Abstinence for Prevention Programs. http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=23321

The Henry J. Kaiser. Family Foundation Survey Daily HIV / AIDS Monitoring. Dec, 2004

National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors ADAP Watch, Dec, 2004

Drugs and Democracy. Transnational Institute. 17th February 2005 http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?=&text10=news_drugs-news&menu=11d

A. Clymer. U.S. Revises Sex Information, and a Fight Goes on. New York Times. December, 2002

Kathleen Knox World: Small Signs of Hope Amid Grim AIDS Statistics, Accessed on April 21, 2008:

http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/11/29112002170959.asp http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/basic/index.htm#history http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/index.htm

http://www.netaid.org/global_poverty/hivaids