Activists address Abbott’s drug ban for Thai AIDS patients

Thailand is experiencing what some would call an AIDS epidemic, and the drugs available for treatment are far too expensive for the average Thai person to afford. There are generic versions of these drugs being produced, albeit illegally to help combat the disease.

Abbott Laboratories, an American company says it is illegal for Thailand to be producing generic forms of its patented drugs, but the government has been to court to battle for the right to help its people.

At an international AIDS conference in Sydney, Australia, Thai protesters were on hand to raise awareness of the situation in their home country, where there is so much senseless death at the hand of cut-throat profit margins.

The first drug in question is called Aluvia, a second line treatment for those whose disease has already become resistant to the first line. It is the only drug of its kind in the third world, and is an indispensable tool to save the lives of suffering Thai people.

Kannikar Kitiwatchakul, a representative for the Thai Network of People Living With AIDS said, "For Thai people with resistant HIV, access to Aluvia is not a luxury. It is vital."

At the moment, there are about 500,000 Thais infected with AIDS and 80,000 of them are now on retroviral therapy. 8,000 of these have developed resistance to the first line treatment and are in desperate need of Aluvia, but the cost is just too dear.