Access to antiretrovirals in resource-restricted settings

In the year 2002 at least 6 million people in developing countries are in immediate need of antiretroviral treatment against HIV/AIDS. Only 230.000 have actual access to the medicines; 50% of them are living in Brazil. For the remaining millions of HIV-infected individuals in the developing world, HAART is not an option. This is due to a multitude of reasons, such as cost of antiretroviral drugs, cost of treatment monitoring, lack of political commitment, lack of medical and social infrastructure and bureaucratic regulations from both the pharmaceutical industries and the “receiving” countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes that at least 3 million people needing care should have access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) by the year 2005. Initiatives for funding and lowering the price of treatment and monitoring are in progress.

PharmAccess International (PAI) is a small, flexible Foundation, active in the health sector, with a focus on HIV/AIDS therapy in resource-limited settings. Its mission is to create and expand access to HIV/AIDS care and therapy for patients in a clinically justified way and at a sustainable cost. PAI is supporting the WHO’s aspirations of immediate scaling-up of access to HAART medicines for those who need it most. PAI is chaired by Prof Dr Joep M.A. Lange, President elect of the International AIDS Society (IAS). Since its foundation in 2000, PAI has quickly accumulated experience in the practical implementation of access programs for HAART, mostly in Africa. PAI works with any client, from either the private or the public sector, that is willing to provide HAART to their beneficiaries (employees). Since 2001, for example, PAI is the unique partner of Heineken International Breweries in the implementation of a HAART access program in 25 breweries in nine African countries, with a potential population of 60.000 people. In Tanzania, PAI has embarked on a pilot project with the Ministry of Defense, providing access to HAART through direct observed therapy (DOT) to one hundred HIV-infected individuals in two military hospitals in Dar-es-Salaam and Mbeya.

For more information, please contact the secretariat:
+31 20 566 4