UN says millions may die if AIDS drugs stopped by India

A free-trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and India could potentially lead to the deaths of millions of AIDS patients who depend on cheap generic drugs produced by India, according to Michel Sidibe, executive director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The agreement is likely to restrict India's ability to produce anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, and would most affect those in Africa, where 86 percent of people on treatment take drugs made in India. The trade deal could drive up prices, limit options and delay access to improved drugs.

Sidibe is concerned that the agreement would reverse the gains made in improving the lives of the poor living with AIDS. It would also be difficult for nations to reach the ambitious targets set at last month’s high-level UN meeting, including an increase in generic drugs access for 15 million patients by 2015.
 

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