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South Africa to produce its own HIV/AIDS drugs
Christelle Terreblanche. Sunday Tribune. 06 April 2003. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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South Africa's efforts to manufacture its own affordable generic anti-retroviral medicines against HIV/AIDS and other epidemics has at last been kick-started and the first pills are scheduled to roll out by next year.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released details to Independent Newspapers this week on its "Initiative Pharmaceutical Technology Transfer (IPTT)" which will be launched in mid-May and sets its sights on not only providing for South Africa's public sector needs, but also other African countries struggling with poverty-related diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Andre Kudlinksi, a chemical engineer directing pharmaceutical projects for the DTI, said Ethiopia will be first in line to benefit after South Africa. Kudlinski said the major obstacle the country had to overcome to make modern generic medicine was a lack of access to modern technologies and that getting on-stream is "not a Mickey Mouse project".
"The DTI is involved in that it supports a number of projects stimulating local manufacture of advanced pharmaceuticals, including pharmaceuticals against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria", he said.
The possibility of getting South Africa's own production off the ground only came after the 2001 Doha Declaration on Health which made provision for a more flexible patent regime for countries with serious public health problems.
Although not all aspects have been agreed yet, it provided a framework for making South Africa more independent in terms of its production of pharmaceuticals.
Kudlinski said South Africa imports roughly 60 percent of all money it spends on drugs in the country with a total value of $1,3-billion (about 10-billion). "What we consume is however only 0.35 percent of the global market, and the entire African continent consumes only 1,5 percent", he said.
"The IPTT will establish a publicly controlled, transparent, sustainable system under which affordable, quality medicines are produced in required quantities, for Africa, by African countries themselves."
The project finally got the go-ahead after two "stock-taking" studies on South Africa's ability to start producing "modern generics".
In addition to the IPTT, earmarked projects include the R150-million expansion of Aspen-Pharmacare operations, of which a portion will be financed by the British Aerospace (BAE Systems) as part of the government's multi-million arms-deal National Industrial Participation (NIP) programme.
Kudlinski said through the transfer of advanced pharmaceutical technologies and supporting programmes such as training in manufacture and quality assurance, the IPTT project "will also reduce the immense technology gap between the Western economies and Africa".
The team co-ordinating the formation and, subsequently, the operation of the project consists of several acclaimed public health experts, amongst others from South Africa, Canada, India, Thailand and Holland.
They include Dr James Orbinski, the President of Medicines Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders, which won a Nobel Peace Prize) and Dr Krisana Kraisintu, former head of the Thai Government Office for Pharmaceuticals.
Dr Giorgio Roscigno, another well-known public health expert, and the initiator of the Global TB Drug Alliance, chairs the initiative, already endorsed by Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin.
This year's budget made provision for a full roll-out of anti-retroviral medicines in the public sector pending a decision by a government task-team involved in a costing exercise.
The additional amount budgeted for HIV/AIDS is R3,3-billion more over three years, starting with R1,9-billion this year. |
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