WTO/WHO HIV/AIDS drug access meeting

Talks got underway in Norway on April 9 at a World HealthOrganization/World Trade Organization meeting aimed at finding ways to improve access in the world's poorest countries to life-saving drugs for HIV/ AIDS and other diseases (Marketletter March 26). Discussions were led by WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland; also attending were about 80 health experts and representatives of the drug industry, the European Union, the USA and developing nations, plus aid agencies including Medecins Sans Frontieres.

The talks were closed to the media, but WHO spokesman Jon Linden told Reuters that they would examine ways to improve the health systems of developing nations and provide financing to help them distribute the drugs. "No matter how cheap many drugs become, you have to find ways to finance them and distribute them," he said. Delegates would also discuss how to prevent heavily-discounted drugs sent to developing countries from finding their way back to rich western nations, which is of great concern to the industry, he added.

While the meeting represented the first time that such a wide range of people had come around the same table to discuss these problems, there were no proposals on the table, and the group had no authority to discuss or agree government plans, said Mr Linden.