More than a decade after the first victories in the battle for
affordable HIV drugs, the gulf between the priorities of large
pharmaceutical companies and those of governments, affected communities
and the general public is again highlighted.
The new treatments for hepatitis C should herald a revolution; a
deadly disease can now be cured quickly and painlessly for a few hundred
dollars. But unless affordable treatments are made universally
available, millions of people in urgent need will be left behind.
Nobody who recognises the human cost of hepatitis C could question
the value of these new drugs. But even in wealthy countries such as
Australia, we are being forced to question their price tags.
Read more.... Labels: Access, australia, drug pricing, ethics