Coming soon: Cheap HIV/AIDS medicine

Coming soon: Cheap HIV/AIDS medicine

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will assure themselves of
access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at a cheaper price, perhaps
even for free for those who were unable to afford them, starting
in January.

Deputy director of the narcotics division at the Food and
Drugs Supervisory Board (BPOM) Lucky S. Slamet said on Tuesday
that local pharmaceutical firm PT Kimia Farma, the appointed
manufacturer of the generic antiretroviral drug, would supply the
pills at a price of between Rp 450,000 (US$52.9) and Rp 500,000
per monthly package.

Indonesia is currently importing the drug from India at Rp
650,000 per package.

"BPOM will issue the license for the Kimia Pharma in the
middle of this month so that it can start producing ARV by
January 2004," Lucky said.

During its summit in Doha in 2001, the World Trade
Organization lifted the patent regulations imposed on access to
life-saving drugs on the condition that they will be used for
humanitarian purposes and not for commercial use.

PT Kimia Farma President Director Gunawan Pranoto said on
Tuesday that his company was ready to produce 120,000 ARV
packages per month (1,440,000 annually) to meet the demand for up
to 2,000 PLWHAs, with one PLWHA taking 60 packages per month.

The government estimates there are 4,000 PLWHA here, while the
UN estimates the figure is over 130,000.

The drug is expected to cost lower as President Megawati
Soekarnoputri is scheduled to announce on Monday next week the
government subsidy worth Rp 200,000 per month.

Local ARV drug will be distributed among the government
hospitals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which will
deliver the medicine to PLWHAs.

PT Kimia Farma is set to launch its first sample of the drug
on Monday.

It will import the raw materials needed to produce it from
India and South Korea.

"It's legal because the regulation only says that India cannot
export its generic ARV drug. It doesn't prohibit India from
exporting the raw materials," Gunawan told The Jakarta Post.

The antiretroviral drug does not cure HIV/AIDS, but does
prevent the virus from multiplying and spreading in the human
body, allowing their immune systems to recover so that they can
live longer.