Microbiology
Economic empowerment is key to fighting HIV/Aids in Africa
IPN Opinion article
Poverty is making the African people come up with strategies that may scare inventors and innovators. Simply lobbying for cheap drugs may not help. A counter lobby may exist that may link the quest for cheap drugs to foreign aid. What then is the solution to the threat of Africa becoming a continent of orphans?
It is urgent that the issue of economic empowerment in Africa through trade, good governance and rule of law be addressed. To fight Aids, empower the Africans economically.
Doctors Without Principles
IPN Opinion article
AIDS activists have a new and very curious choice for their new poster boy - President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The President has become their darling because of his decision to break drug patents and import generic anti-retrovirals for his country's HIV/AIDS programme. That MÈdecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) or "Doctors Without Borders" has aligned itself with the government of Zimbabwe is surely one of their most shameful moves.
When Activists Win
IPN Opinion article
Today data are released from PhRMA, the pharmaceutical lobby group, which show that AIDS drugs in development are in shocking decline, down by 33% over the past 5 years. What the industry is unwilling to admit is that drug activists have been successful in their campaign of demanding lower prices for AIDS drugs. The result is that in some drug company boardrooms, investment is obviously switching from AIDS research into areas where profits can still be made.
Aids has no cure - remember?
IPN Opinion article
"It does seem paradoxical -- nay, tragic -- that the world may end up spending tens of billions of dollars annually to provide painful, only moderately successful treatment to prolong life, while not making millions of people healthy from curable diseases like malaria for only a few billion. In these days of emotional politics, perhaps the rich world will only spend money on diseases with which it has some familiarity..."
Aids has no cure - remember?
IPN Opinion article
It does seem paradoxical -- nay, tragic -- that the world may end up spending tens of billions of dollars annually to provide painful, only moderately successful treatment to prolong life, while not making millions of people healthy from curable diseases like malaria for only a few billion. In these days of emotional politics, perhaps the rich world will only spend money on diseases with which it has some familiarity.
Vaccines key to a healthy Africa
IPN Opinion article
"To encourage the development of vaccines and other treatments for HIV, TB and malaria, governments must first signal that they will respect the rights of the patent holders. Second, they should offer tax breaks on investment in research and development. Third, charities and rich governments should offer prizes to the developers of vaccines and new drugs..."
