We fight hiv/aids and fight for access to medicine
Latest News

MSF's Suerie Moon spoke in front of a US Senate Committee on promoting new treatments & cures for neglected diseases read more

 

NEW: The 13th Edition of Untangling the Web of Antiretroviral Price Reductions is now available download it here

 

VIDEO: MSF's community approach to treating malnutrition in Niger watch it here

 

WHO's work on the financing of medical research and development is given a fresh start read more

 

MSF Letter to GFATM on concerns over scale-up of AIDS treatment in light of Board of Directors Meeting read more

 

New European Parliament Working Group on Innovation & Access launches with support of Access Campaign  read more

 





AIDS Emergency is Far from Over

Thembisa Mkhosana, a mother of two children from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, is at the end of the line. Quite literally. After six years on antiretroviral drugs, she has run out of drug treatment lines to fight the virus that is destroying her.

Thembisa and others in her situation are in desperate need of newer affordable HIV/AIDS drugs.  Some of these drugs ARE already available and are being used by patients in rich countries. But people with HIV/AIDS in poor countries can’t get hold of them because they are either not available there or the price is too high.  

Patent pool: One solution

A patent pool is one way we could ensure that Thembisa CAN get hold of these existing drugs. AND new AIDS drugs in the future. Right now, UNITAID, the international drug procurement agency, is laying the foundations of such a patent pool.  Read more about patent pools and how they could deliver life-saving AIDS drugs to patients in developing countries

As people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) develop intolerable side effects or start to develop resistance to their first set of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs), they need to switch to a different drug combination.  Read more in detail about this process and the need for newer drugs.