Genesis Medical / NY Times News Articles

Foreign Desk | September 20, 2002, Friday
Cheap Vaccine Sought for Africa

(NYT) 269 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 9 , Column 1
ABSTRACT - Aid agencies urge major drug companies to produce low-priced meningitis vaccines
for Africa, where new strain of meningitis--W135--threatens to add to death toll of more than
25,000 a year; in so-called meningitis belt, from Senegal to Ethiopia, millions of people are at risk
from new strain; World Health Orgn will meet with private and government agencies next week in
Burkina Faso to determine how to cope with high vaccine costs and fears of new epidemics;
participants will include main meningitis vaccine manufacturers: Aventis, Chiron and
GlaxoSmithKline; vaccine that protects against four strains, including W135, sells for $5 a dose in
Middle East and up to $50 a dose in United States; activists say $1 a dose would be reasonable
for Africa and would cover production costs (M) Aid agencies urged major drug companies today
to produce low-priced meningitis vaccines for Africa, where a new strain of meningitis threatens
to add to the death toll of more than 25,000 a year.
Millions of people from Senegal to Ethiopia -- the so-called meningitis belt -- are at risk from the
new strain, W135. Meningitis, a brain infection, sickened 12,000 in Burkina Faso in West Africa
this year, killing 1,500, officials of the aid agencies said.


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Foreign Desk \| September 20, 2002, Friday Cheap Vaccine Sought for Africa (NYT) 269 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 9 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - Aid agencies urge major drug companies to produce low-priced meningitis vaccines for Africa, where new strain of meningitis--W135--threatens to add to death toll of more than 25,000 a year; in so-called meningitis belt, from Senegal to Ethiopia, millions of people are at risk from new strain; World Health Orgn will meet with private and government agencies next week in Burkina Faso to determine how to cope with high vaccine costs and fears of new epidemics; participants will include main meningitis vaccine manufacturers: Aventis, Chiron and GlaxoSmithKline; vaccine that protects against four strains, including W135, sells for $5 a dose in Middle East and up to $50 a dose in United States; activists say $1 a dose would be reasonable for Africa and would cover production costs (M) Aid agencies urged major drug companies today to produce low-priced meningitis vaccines for Africa, where a new strain of meningitis threatens to add to the death toll of more than 25,000 a year. Millions of people from Senegal to Ethiopia -- the so-called meningitis belt -- are at risk from the new strain, W135. Meningitis, a brain infection, sickened 12,000 in Burkina Faso in West Africa this year, killing 1,500, officials of the aid agencies said.
August 27, 2002, Tuesday FOREIGN DESK World Briefing \| United Nations: Health Agency Chief To Step Down By Lawrence K. Altman (NYT) Gro Harlem Brundtland said she would not run for re-election next year as director general of the World Health Organization. Dr. Brundtland, a former prime minister of Norway, said she had made significant progress in the goals she set when elected in 1998, including anchoring health firmly in the international development agenda and reforming the organization, a United Nations agency. Dr. Brundtland, whose term expires next July, also said her age -- she would be 69 at the end of another five-year term -- was a factor in her decision. Lawrence K. Altman (NYT) Published: 08 - 27 - 2002 , Late Edition - Final , Section A , Column 5 , Page 9
Health & Fitness \| April 23, 2002, Tuesday W.H.O. Moves to Make AIDS Drugs More Accessible to Poor Worldwide By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. (NYT) 1039 words Late Edition - Final , Section F , Page 7 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - World Health Organization releases new guidelines aimed at showing doctors worldwide, even in rural Africa, which Western-style drug cocktails work best against AIDS and simplest acceptable lab tests for patients; also adds 12 antiretroviral drugs to essential drugs list to encourage price competition and prod makers of generic drugs to make more three-drugs-in-one pill dosages (M) Helping clear the way for Western-style AIDS treatment to reach even rural Africa, the World Health Organization released new guidelines today describing the drug cocktails that work best and the simplest acceptable laboratory tests for patients. The guidelines are meant to show doctors in poor areas how to prescribe powerful ''triple-therapy cocktails'' safely.
Foreign Desk \| March 21, 2002, Thursday New List of Safe AIDS Drugs, Despite Industry Lobby By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. (NYT) 1210 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 3 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - World Health Orgn releases its first list of manufacturers of safe AIDS drugs, move that could help bring down price of AIDS medicines for poor countries; list includes Cipla Ltd, large Indian producer of generics, and three smaller European ones; decision represents setback for pharmaceutical multinationals who want only patent-holders to decide what discounts to offer on their most expensive and profitable products (M) In a move that could help bring down the price of AIDS medicines for poor countries, the World Health Organization today released its first list of manufacturers of safe AIDS drugs, which included a large Indian producer of generics and three smaller European ones. The decision represents a setback for the pharmaceutical multinationals who want only patent-holders to decide what discounts to offer on their most expensive and profitable products. The medicines on the list are approved for United Nations purchase, and it will encourage price competition in poor nations by telling health officials which of hundreds of generics suppliers make safe drugs.
Editorial Desk \| January 3, 2002, Thursday Health Aid for Poor Countries (NYT) 582 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 22 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - Editorial, citing key role played by disease in keeping poor nations poor, cites Prof Jeffrey Sachs's study for World Health Organization that showed dramatic rise in health spending by both rich and poor nations on health of poor would produce huge economic and human benefits; urges increased United States aid On the list of factors keeping poor countries poor -- bad governance, war, natural disasters -- a prominent place must go to disease. By the most conservative estimates, malaria robs sub-Saharan Africa of 6 percent of its economic strength, and the actual figure could be even higher than 50 percent. As AIDS spreads, the situation will be even more devastating. Disease cuts the lifespan of workers and reduces productivity. High infant mortality compels families to have many children; the families are thus able to spend less on the health and education of each child, and mothers are kept from joining the work force. Disease discourages tourism and investment. The health of the world's poorest nations is normally and properly measured in lives. Now, a new study commissioned by the World Health Organization puts a dollar figure on the rewards of improving health among the globe's poor. It makes a compelling argument that a dramatic increase in health spending by both rich and poor nations would produce huge economic and human benefits.
Business/Financial Desk \| December 21, 2001, Friday Diagnosis of World's Health Focuses on Economic Benefit By DANIEL ALTMAN (NYT) 492 words Late Edition - Final , Section W , Page 1 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - World Health Organization proposes spending $101 billion annually in medical research and treatment to save 8 million lives in developing world and $186 billion in world income now lost to illness; international contributions by governments, including $10 billion a year from US, would finance implementation of proposals; plan will probably meet strong opposition in US Congress (M) For $101 billion a year in medical research and treatments, eight million lives could be saved annually in the developing world, and $186 billion a year in world income now lost to illness could be recovered. So concludes a report on economics and health released yesterday by the World Health Organization. The committee that drafted the report, led by Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University, studied how a combination of foreign aid and impoverished governments' own funds could improve the health of people in emerging economies. The initiatives would tackle AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases common in developing countries.
Foreign Desk \| September 1, 2001, Saturday African Nations Widen Medical Help to Women With H.I.V. (NYT) 592 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 6 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - african nations widen medical help to wor Clinics in Brazzaville will provide free treatment to pregnant women with H.I.V. starting on Monday, part of an effort to block mother-to-child transmission in a country that is one of the hardest hit by AIDS, which is caused by H.I.V. And Ghana said it is in negotiations in partnership with the World Health Organization to start direct manufacturing of drugs to treat the virus.
Business/Financial Desk \| June 22, 2001, Friday TECHNOLOGY; New Global AIDS Fund May Copy TB Drug-Buying Plan By MELODY PETERSEN (NYT) 695 words Late Edition - Final , Section C , Page 4 , Column 3 ABSTRACT - World Health Organization officials say price of drugs for tuberculosis fell by more than one-third when agency set up program for buying them in bulk and asked drug companies to compete against one another to offer best price; price reductions are significant becasue program for buying large quantities of tuberculosis drugs could serve as model for buying AIDS drugs for Africa and other developing countries; lower prices also mean that many more people with tuberculosis can be treated with drugs for same amount of money; photo (M) The price of drugs for tuberculosis fell by more than one-third when the World Health Organization set up a program for buying them in bulk and asked drug companies to compete against one another to offer the best price, agency officials said yesterday. The price reductions are significant because the program for buying large quantities of tuberculosis drugs could serve as a model for buying AIDS drugs for Africa and other developing countries.
Business/Financial Desk \| May 3, 2001, Thursday Novartis Agrees To Lower Price Of a Medicine Used in Africa By MELODY PETERSEN (NYT) 789 words Late Edition - Final , Section C , Page 1 , Column 5 ABSTRACT - Novartis agrees to cut price of Riamet, its powerful malaria drug, to World Health Organization to fight disease in Africa; price will be about $2 for full treatment; in Western markets, price is about $20 (M) In a sign that the debate on drug prices in the third world is shifting from AIDS to other life-threatening diseases, Novartis, the Swiss drug company, has agreed to cut significantly the price of a powerful medicine needed to fight malaria in Africa. David Alnwick, who manages the World Health Organization's malaria efforts, said that Novartis had agreed to sell its drug, Riamet, to the W.H.O. for about $2 for a full treatment; in Western markets, the price is about $20.
Allotting AIDS Drugs To the Editor: Re ''How to Distribute AIDS Drugs,'' by Carol Bellamy (Op-Ed, March 26): Unicef's offer to take the lead in setting up a global procurement and distribution system for AIDS drugs is a significant step in the fight against AIDS. Unicef has the expertise to coordinate the bulk purchase and quality certification of AIDS drugs, including generics, and to ensure equitable distribution. The World Health Organization must also assist, as it has been mandated, by advising countries on how to overcome patent and trade barriers hampering drug access. But Unicef and the World Health Organization, like all United Nations agencies, are only as strong as their donor and member states make them. Wealthy nations as well as poor countries facing the AIDS pandemic must now step forward to provide both the financial commitment and political will necessary to turn this plan into a reality. NICOLAS DE TORRENTE Executive Director Doctors Without Borders New York, March 27, 2001
Foreign Desk \| May 18, 2000, Thursday Patent Holders Fight Proposal on Generic AIDS Drugs for Poor By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. (NYT) 596 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 5 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - Brazil asks world health authorities to set up database of prices of all anti-AIDS drugs, move that would allow poor countries to shop for best deal worldwide; proposal upsets large pharmaceutical companies because database would have to include drugs made in countries like Brazil, India and Thailand, whose laws disregard many drug patents and where generic versions of most important--and most expensive--AIDS drugs are sold for pennies per dose; Brazil makes its request before World Health Assembly; observers from Doctors Without Borders and Act Up both strongly support Brazilian initiative (M) Brazil caught world health authorities by surprise today by asking them to set up a database of prices of all anti-AIDS drugs, a move that would allow poor countries to shop for the best deal worldwide. The proposal has upset the world's large pharmaceutical companies because the database would have to include drugs made in countries like Brazil, India and Thailand, whose laws disregard many drug patents. Companies in those countries, and some others, make generic versions of the most important -- and most expensive -- AIDS drugs and sell them for pennies per dose.
Foreign Desk \| April 6, 2000, Thursday Agencies Urge Use Of Affordable Drug For H.I.V. in Africa By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. (NYT) 1024 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 6 ABSTRACT - World Health Orgn and United Nations AIDS program say 23 million Africans infected with virus that causes AIDS should be given regular doses of common and affordable antibiotic to ward off fatal secondary infections; recommendation is based on encouraging preliminary studies with drug, best known as Bactrim; Clinton administration is spending more than $100 million to fight AIDS abroad and wants to raise that to $325 million in next year's budget; Bactrim has been prescribed for years in wealthy countries to ward off AIDS-related infections (M) The 23 million Africans infected with the virus that causes AIDS should be given regular doses of a common and affordable antibiotic to ward off fatal secondary infections, the World Health Organization and the United Nations AIDS program said today. The groups based their recommendation on encouraging preliminary studies, and added that if the results are borne out, the impact could be dramatic. Virtually all of those infected with the virus will still die prematurely of AIDS, but many could add years to their lives and have longer gaps between debilitating complications.
Foreign Desk \| November 28, 1996, Thursday U.N. Reports 3 Million New H.I.V. Cases Worldwide for '96 By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN (NYT) 828 words Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 10 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - Over three million people, mostly under age 25, have become newly infected with AIDS virus this year, officials of United Nations and World Health Organization say; they stress need for more vigorous programs to prevent further spread of virus because it is being transmitted in all countries (M) More than three million people, mostly under age 25, have become newly infected with the AIDS virus this year, officials of the United Nations and the World Health Organization said today. They stressed the need for more vigorous programs to prevent further spread of the virus because it is being transmitted in all countries. The new cases bring to nearly 23 million the total number who are infected. In the 15 years since the discovery of AIDS, an additional 6.4 million people -- 5 million adults and 1.4 million children -- have died. Of those deaths, 1.5 million will have occurred in 1996.
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