Sub-Saharan Africa still carries heaviest burden

The United Nation’s AIDS Epidemic Update for 2007 has received much attention because it corrects overall figures downwards, mainly thanks to better data collection.

But its assessment of sub-Saharan Africa, however, is as bleak as ever: it remains the most affected region and AIDS remains the leading cause of death there. An estimated 76% of AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred in sub-Saharan African. Almost 90% of the children infected with HIV worldwide live there.

The report also notes the "disproportionate impact" of the epidemic on health systems in Africa, which in many countries are completely overwhelmed by the needs of patients suffering from AIDS.

Of special concern is the lack of access to adequate medication. The costs of medicines - particularly antiretroviral drugs (ARV) that help extend a patient’s life and improve its quality - are prohibitive for many developing countries.

Campaigners say that the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of 1994 restricts competition from generic drugs, by imposing patents on medicines for 20 years.

At the 2001 WTO talks in Doha, ministers declared that intellectual property rights should not have precedence over public health needs. A series of mechanisms exist to implement that principle. But critics say that they are overly complex and hence difficult for poor countries to utilise.

Under international trade rules, governments can issue compulsory licences, which allow the production or import of generics without the agreement of the patent-holder (who is nevertheless compensated).

Concerns about the adequacy of such mechanisms prompted members of the European Parliament to postpone three times their assent to TRIPS amendments. In a resolution passed on 12 July, the Parliament asked the Council and Commission to support those governments which want to override patents and only agreed to the TRIPS amendments on 24 October after receiving assurances from the Council and the Commission, paving the way for ratification by member states.

Alexandra Heumber, an advocate of access to medicine with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Brussels, says that it is now of the utmost importance for the EU to provide strong support to the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG) run by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is tasked with drafting a global strategy on these issues by May 2008.

The United Nation’s AIDS Epidemic Update for 2007 has received much attention because it corrects overall figures downwards, mainly thanks to better data collection.