introduction

Globally, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most deeply afflicted by HIV/AIDS. Approximately twenty seven million (26.6) million people are living with the virus and approximately three million new cases are reported in this region alone [Remember that a substantial number of cases go unreported.]. Work is currently being done to stem the transmission of the virus; extensive educational programmes, governmental emphasis on societal equality for those infected and a strict enforcement on the endeavors of sex workers detail on a small sector of these valiant ambitions.

The issue at hand though, is that these measures alone cannot stop this major epidemic. Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, utilized to aid the body's fight against the virus, need to be offered to hospitals and consumers at affordable prices. In the status quo, dominant pharmaceuticals, such as Roche and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are overpricing the drugs to such an extent that smaller companies located in these developing African countries are producing generic products, replete with still powerful affects. The aforementioned pharmaceuticals are now clogging courts with litigation, attempting and often times succeeding in hindering, or completing impeding the work of these generic producers. All the while more and more continue to perish.

analysis:introduction

global | australia and new zealand | caribbean | east asia and pacific | e.europe and central asia | latin america | middle east and north africa | north america | south and south east asia | sub-saharan africa |
western europe