Scientific Facts on AIDS

7.4 How can HIV prevention and treatment become more available and affordable?

Ensuring that HIV prevention and treatment products such as condoms and antiretroviral drugs are available and affordable will require a series of measures:

* National governments should remove taxes on medicines, condoms and other products that are used for the prevention, treatment, care and support of AIDS, and should also remove laws or regulations that might hinder access to these products.
* Governments should allow medicines into the market as soon as they are approved by the WHO in order to speed up access to new treatment.
* Governments should ensure that the few drugs available to treat and prevent HIV in children reach at least 80% of those in need by 2010.
* Many vitally needed medicines are covered by patents that can limit their use and make them expensive. While drug companies need a sufficient incentive to invest in research and development, AIDS medications must be produced as cheaply and widely as possible to meet the needs of developing countries. Where necessary, countries should make use of the flexibilities in the agreements on intellectual property to ensure they have sustainable supplies of affordable medicines and health technologies, including through local production.