Zimbabwe has suspended import restrictions on drugs to treat the deadly Aids pandemic, which claims more than 2 000 lives a week in the southern African nation.
In an official notice, the Justice Ministry invoked emergency powers to lift regulations requiring Aids drugs to be registered with the state Medicines Control Authority.
The notice, published on Monday and valid for an initial emergency period of six months, cleared the way for imports of cheaper generic Aids drugs without lengthy testing and registration procedures.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV rates in the world, with an estimated one in four adults infected.
In the past decade, life expectancy has dropped from 60 to 40 years due to Aids, according to official statistics.
A report by the independent Harare-based Child and Law Foundation presented at the UN General Assembly children’s conference earlier this month estimated as many as 7 000 Zimbabweans were infected with HIV every day, half of them in the 15-24 age group.
Aids awareness campaigners say traditional taboos have hindered sex education programs in Zimbabwe. More than 70% of the population lives in poverty and has poor access to ordinary drugs and basic health care in the crumbling economy. – Sapa-AP