Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration marked the recent approval of the 100th antiretroviral drug in association with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), aimed at the prevention, treatment, and care of people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Generic drugs matter because they drive down the cost of drugs allowing PEPFAR funds to purchase more drugs per dollar.  Thus, more people are treated. 

The Malaria Policy Center attended an event celebrating this milestone and several people spoke on the importance of this development.  These speakers included Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, Director of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, FDA, Ambassador Eric Goosby the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue of Tanzania, Ambassador Raymond Joseph of Haiti and Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of W.H.O sent a video message.

AIDS and malaria have long been linked in the global health community and integration between the two diseases was touched on by a few of the speakers at this event.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that there are not silos of treatment in Africa, the truth of the matter is that comprehensive care is needed at medical facilities.  As a result, ensuring that these facilities can provide treatment for malaria, AIDS and other diseases is critical.   It prevents redunancy of effort and leverages limited resources.

Tags: AIDS, FDA, Pepfar

Tags: AIDS, FDA, Pepfar
Categories:Global Health Community, Health & Science