India overtakes South Africa for HIV/AIDS

The world's second largest country in terms of population has become the world's largest in terms of HIV/AIDS cases. The United Nations' AIDS agency (UNAIDS) has published figures showing that whereas there are an estimated 5.5 million people with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, the number in India is now believed to be as high as 5.7 million. Because of the difference in overall population size, the visibility of the problem in India is low, about 0.9% of the population (compared with 0.6% for the USA).

Last month, hundreds of HIV/AIDS sufferers protested in New Dehli against the patent application for Viread (tenofovir), an antiretroviral drug developed by US drugmaker Gilead Sciences. A court case was underway which would determine the effectiveness of new intellectual property legislation passed in India in 2005 (Marketletters passim). Local generic firms, including Cipla, are reported to offer unbranded versions of the drug at a significant discount.