 |
|
|
 Health & Beauty | February 2007 
AIDS Group Criticizes Bristol-Myers for Its AIDS Drug Prices in Mexico
 Theresa Agovino - Canoe
| | AIDS activists in South Africa protest high drug prices (Christian Schwetz/MSF) |
An AIDS organization has launched an ad campaign against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., demanding that it lower the prices on two of its AIDS treatments in Mexico.
Ads with the headline "AIDS Drug Prices to Die For" began appearing on Thursday in The Los Angeles Weekly, according to the campaign's sponsor, AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The foundation runs clinics in the United States and other countries, including two in Mexico.
Similar ads are slated to appear in The Village Voice in New York and La Jornada, a newspaper in Mexico City.
"In Mexico, Bristol-Myers Squibb charges four times as much for Reyataz and Videx as it does in the least-developed countries in Africa and parts of Asia, a cold-hearted business calculation which effectively makes these drugs out of reach for nearly all people living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico," Michael Weinstein, the foundation's president, said in a statement.
 Bristol-Myers and other makers of AIDS drugs give rock bottom prices to very poor countries. However, according to the foundation, Mexico is considered a middle-income country so it doesn't qualify for extremely low prices.
The foundation said an AIDS drug regimen in Mexico can cost as much as US$6,000 a year, while the country's per capita income is roughly $7,300 a year.
In a statement, Bristol-Myers said it sets its global pricing structure for HIV medicines to ensure patients worldwide have access to its medicines. Bristol-Myers added that its prices for HIV drugs in Mexico and other middle-income countries are based on a number of factors including affordability, incidence of HIV infection, and government commitment to the treatment of HIV/AIDS. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us