UN make progress in ARVs distribution

UNITAID announced yesterday (September 20th) that it had managed to reduce the price of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for children by 40 per cent.

According to the international drug purchase facility, in its first year it also reduced the price of second-line ARV drugs by between 25 per cent and 50 per cent.

A total of 33,000 paediatric treatments against HIV/AIDS had also been delivered by the UN body, with the assistance of the Clinton Foundation.

The group added that a total of US$45 million had been committed to fund the treatment up until 2008. UNITAID hope that this will reach 65,000 patients, while several countries including Botswana, Cameroon, Uganda and Zambia had already received their first supply.

An estimated 40.3 million people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2005, according to the Global Health Council. It is thought that 17.5 million of these were women.