Ghana signs contract with drug firm for cheaper HIV drugs

ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana said Wednesday it had signed a deal for low-cost HIV drugs with a Western drug company.

The deal with Merck Sharp & Dohme was signed by Health Minister Kwaku Afriyie and Marc Devaux, managing director of the company's Africa division. The company agreed to supply anti-retroviral drugs to the West African nation on a non-profit basis.

Several African countries, including Ivory Coast, Mali, Rwanda and Uganda, have signed similar deals in a bid to provide affordable treatment for HIV/AIDS victims.

In Ghana, around 200 people are infected with the HIV virus each day and at least 500,000 people are living with the virus. A month's supply of HIV drugs costs around dlrs 300.

Merck Sharp & Dohme said it would cut its prices by 90 percent under Wednesday's deal. In the open market, a year's supply of its HIV drugs can cost up to dlrs 6,000, it said.

"The price of the drug is important ... it should be affordable and reachable for all irrespective of social status," Afriyie said.

Under pressure from activists, international drug manufacturers drastically lowered HIV/AIDS drug prices in Africa last year, discounting the drugs by up to 90 percent.

About 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to figures from the United Nations. About 28 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, where the epidemic continues to spread rapidly.

Anti-retroviral drug combinations have revolutionized HIV treatment since 1996, transforming the virus from a death sentence to a manageable condition.