RELIEF PROGRAM SLOW TO SWITCH TO GENERIC HIV DRUGS

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been slow to allow the procurement of generic antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to treat HIV, according to a new report by the organization Center for Public Integrity.

PEPFAR is a five-year, $15 billion initiative to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic through providing ARV treatment and other actions.

Government officials and activists in Kenya have argued that the number of people receiving treatment could be doubled or even tripled if more generic ARVs were made available under PEPFAR, the groups says.

But the report found that in 2004 and 2005 the plan allocated only about 5 percent of its overall ARV drug budget -- less than $15 million -- for generic drugs. The plan's policy only allows for the use of ARVs approved by the U.S. FDA. In 2005, generic ARVs amounted to 11 percent of the program's drug procurement budget, according to the report.

By October this year, the FDA had approved 26 generic ARVs. However, it is not clear how many of these ARVs are actually being used by PEPFAR, the group says.

To view the full report, go to www.publicintegrity.org/aids/report.aspx?aid=836 (http://www.publicintegrity.org/aids/report.aspx?aid=836).