| In
50 developing countries |
| Clinton
announces AIDS drug initiative |
agencies
Former
U.S. President Bill Clinton announced on Thursday
an initiative with nine drug companies he said
would cut the cost of HIV/AIDS testing and treatment
in 50 developing countries and help save hundreds
of thousands of lives.
The agreement between the Clinton Foundation
and the drug companies aims to halve the cost
of HIV/AIDS diagnosis and lower the price tag
of second-line anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs by
30 percent or more.
"
This is only the first step," Clinton said. "We
expect to lower the cost of more second-line
drugs later this year."
Clinton said the deal with the nine companies
was a "step in the right direction" but
admitted he would like to see more of the world's
biggest drug companies on board. The deal Clinton
announced involves smaller companies.
"
This agreement today can help to save hundreds
of thousands" of lives, Clinton said.
First-line drugs are used in the earliest stage
of treatment. When patients become resistant
to first-line treatment, more-expensive second-line
drugs are given.
Some quarter of a million people already benefit
from first-line treatment resulting from Clinton
Foundation agreements announced in 2003, the
former president said.
Clinton said up to 1 million people could receive
first-line treatment at reduced cost through
the new initiative by the end of the year.
"
You're going to see an enormous explosion in
2006," Clinton said about the number of
people receiving ARV treatment.
He said 40 million people are infected with
HIV/AIDS and 8,000 people die from the disease
every day.
Four companies -- Chembio Diagnostics Inc,
Orgenics, a subsidiary of Inverness Medical
Innovations,
Qualpro Diagnostics and Shanghai Kehua --
will offer rapid HIV/AIDS testing at half
the current
cost and provide results within 20 minutes.
He said cutting the cost of the rapid tests
would save "tens of millions of dollars" over
the next four years.
Another four companies -- Cipla, Ranbaxy,
Strides Arcolab and Aspen Pharmacare --
will offer
the first-line drug Efavirenz, with ingredients
supplied
by Matrix Laboratories, at below-market
rates. Cipla will also provide the second-line
drug
Abacavir at lower cost.
The drug firms involved will lower drugs
costs by improving and modernizing the
production process, moving production
to countries with
lower labor
costs and reducing profit margins while
increasing the volume of output, he said.
Over 90 percent of HIV carriers are unaware
they are infected, so raising AIDS
awareness is a
fundamental priority, Clinton said.
Clinton cited the African country Lesotho,
where every child under the age of
12 is now being
tested, as an example of the progress
that has been made in raising AIDS
awareness.
The Clinton Foundation provides access
to reduced prices for drugs and
testing in 50
developing
countries, and works with directly
with 20 governments in Africa,
the Caribbean
and
Asia in the fight
against the disease.
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| Japan
third |
| China now
2nd largest auto market in world after US |
agencies
More
vehicles were sold in China last year than in
Japan, making China the world's second largest
auto market after the United States with almost
six million units shifted from show rooms, a
state newspaper said on Friday.
But if imports of 160,000 were excluded, China
was still number three, the People's Daily said.
Chinese vehicle sales last year rose 14 percent
on 2004 to 5.8 million units, the newspaper said,
referring only to China-made products.
Sales this year of vehicles -- including everything
from cars to buses and trucks -- are expected
to grow 10 to 15 percent to 6.4-6.6 million units,
the report said, citing figures from the official
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
But sales of passengers vehicles, including sedans
and sport utility vehicles, jumped 21 percent
to nearly four million units, the newspaper said,
bouncing back from a relatively lackluster rise
of 15 percent in 2004. In 2003, sales almost
doubled.
Car sales had been slowing, due in part to Beijing's
crackdown on easy auto credit to help cool an
overheating Chinese economy.
The stronger performance in 2005 was partly due
to healthy sales in secondary markets in poorer
inland provinces, the paper said, quoting an
official at the auto association.
China has turned into a boom for auto makers
struggling under discounting in saturated mature
markets like Europe and the United States.
Earlier this month, General Motors Corp. <GM.N> unveiled
a 35 percent rise in China sales to 665,390 vehicles
in 2005, exceeding the combined 564,300 units
sold by Volkswagen A.G.'s <VOWG.DE> two
Chinese joint ventures.
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