Ukraine is to become the first state in Eastern Europe to take advantage of low prices for antiretrovirals and monitoring tests negotiated by the Clinton Foundation, the Ukrainian government announced on Thursday.
Ukraine is estimated to have close to 50,000 people already infected with HIV, and the epidemic is growing rapidly among injecting drugs users and their sexual partners. The Ukrainian government launched an antiretroviral treatment programme in August 2004 and expects to provide treatment to 2100 people by October. According to the country’s ministry of health, 4000 people need treatment already.
The Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative Procurement Consortium has negotiated price reductions with generic antiretroviral manufacturers and the manufacturers of viral load tests and CD4 cell counting machines. These discounted prices are available to treatment programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, to UNICEF programmes and to NGOs through the International Dispensary Association.
Although the treatment programme in Ukraine is already using some generic antiretroviral products, this deal will reduce the cost of generic products and make it possible to treat more people, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.