ARTICLES
A sudden approval of untested drugs
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Letter to the Editor: Financial Times
By Thompson Ayodele
April 12 2004
From Mr Thompson Ayodele.
Sir, New plans to expand Aids treatment in poor countries through greater use of generic fixed-dose combination pills have met resistance from the US, but broad support from others, including the Global Fund, the World Health Organisation and many health activists ("Aids drugs plan to include all poor countries", April 6). Are these activists, so quick to hail the merits of these clinically untested drugs, the same people who protested against the tests of new antibiotics carried out by a research-based pharmaceuticals company in northern Nigeria?
This would be ironic. There, the main complaint was that the company did not tell patients about the risks and benefits of the drug. Yet activists are now proposing that untested FDCs be given to patients willy-nilly.
I agree with those activists who demand that treatments for illnesses in poor countries such as Nigeria must adhere to world class standards. This applies to antiretroviral drugs just as much as antibiotics. The extent of the HIV epidemic and the emergence of resistant strains makes the need for testing more, not less, acute. HIV medicines, whether original or generic, should meet the most stringent, rigorous clinical and testing reviews. If the proposed drugs are rejected by pharmacies in Brussels, Geneva, London, Tokyo or Washington, accepting the use of the same drugs in Africa with little resources and lack of equipment to do a proper clinical and scientific evaluation may further compound the woes of HIV/Aids victims.
Thompson Ayodele, Co-ordinator/Director, Institute of Public Policy Analysis, Lagos, Nigeria