SECOND-LINE HIV DRUGS HARD TO COME BY IN AFRICA

Most HIV-positive people in Africa still lack access to important antiretroviral (ARV) drugs five after a World Trade Organization enacted a declaration to allow developing nations to make generic copies of brand drugs, the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reports.

Although the declaration has allowed African countries greater flexibility in being able to tackle HIV with first-line drug regimens, second-line medications were still patented and expensive. Second-line ARVs, such as Abbott's Kaletra, are usually 50 times more expensive than first-line drugs, and countries pay roughly $5,000 per patient per year for them, according to IRIN.

Aid group Médecins Sans Frontières says that as much as 74 percent of second-line HIV drugs are still protected by intellectual property (IP) laws.

The WTO met in 2001 and agreed to ensure that IP rights would not prevent developing countries from providing vital medication in their health systems. The decision was called the Doha Declaration on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement.

Earlier this week British advocacy group Oxfam issued a report, "Patents vs. Patients: Five Years After the Doha Declaration," saying that the declaration has been ineffective in promoting access to affordable drugs.