THE United States plans to offer sub-Saharan Africa $1bn in annual loans to pay for American Aids drugs and medical services, a US newspaper reported. The loan programme is to be offered through the Export-Import Bank, an independent government agency financed by the US congress. The bank plans to make the loans available to 24 sub-Saharan nations with five-year terms and an expected interest rate of 7%. Five multi-national drug companies agreed, in May, to cut the prices they charge African nations for drugs to combat Aids. But even a discounted ”cocktail” of Aids-suppressing drugs might cost $2 000 a year for an African patient, more than four times the average per capita income in many countries.
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