The humanitarian group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF ? Doctors without Borders) ”fully supports” the emergency plan to fight Aids announced this week by Zimbabwe’s government, the group said in a statement received on Friday in Harare.
”We can only praise the decision taken May 27 by Zimbabwe’s government to declare Aids a national emergency,” MSF said.
”Doctors without Borders fully supports this action, which will allow patients to have access to generic antiretrovirals, even if they are still protected by a patent in that country,” it said.
”This is the first time that government .. has declared its intention to bypass patents to improve access to medication when its price is too high,” it said.
The scheme will ”considerable reduce the cost of treatment,” MSF said.
On Monday, the government in Zimbabwe declared the next six months an emergency period to combat HIV/Aids, allowing the importation and manufacture of anti-Aids generic drugs.
The emergency order, prompted by the rapid spread of HIV among Zimbabweans, will allow for the increased availability of drugs to treat the disease which is killing about 2 000 people per week in the country.
Along with neighbouring South Africa, Zimbabwe is one of the countries hardest hit by Aids.
One in every four adults in Zimbabwe is infected with the HIV, the precursor to Aids.
At least 15% of new HIV infections are found among children and it is projected that nearly half of all children will be orphaned by HIV/Aids in the coming decade.
Life expectancy dropped from 60 in the 1980s to 39 and experts have estimated that it could fall to 27 this decade.
Aids is expected to bring Zimbabwe’s population growth down to zero this year. – Sapa-AFP