Compiled by Martin Flynn & Brucec Wainwright


New way to map Aids
The University of Sheffield and the University of Michigan have produced a series of cartograms of the world showing country areas adjusted to reflect variables such as land use and population.
The map shows worldwide HIV prevalence among people aged between 15 and 49. The most affected country is Swaziland with 38 per cent living with HIV, followed by Botswana with 37 per cent, Lesotho with 28 per cent and Zimbabwe with 24 per cent prevalence. www.worldmapper.org

Protests at HIV drug prices go global

Aids activists staged an international day of protest targeting pharmaceutical giant Abbott over its drug prices and restrictions to new antiretrovirals.
Abbott has come under fire for the high price of its protease inhibitors Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) and Norvir (ritonavir) and for allegedly trying to block Thailand and Brazil from making cheap generic copies of these drugs.
Abbott responded to international pressure from the UN in April by slashing the price of Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) in middle income countries like Thailand.
But the company has refused to introduce new medicines into Thailand on the grounds that the Thais had broken patents.
World Trade Organisation rules allow countries to make their own or import cheap generic drugs if they face a serious health emergency.
Campaigners from the Student Stop Aids campaign and Student Partnership Worldwide who led the demos argued that HIV was the leading cause of death in Thailand, where 600,000 people are living with the virus.
But pharma companies insist the production of generics is piracy that robs them of income needed for research and development into further new drugs.
“Abbott’s action is immoral and a deliberate attempt to override internationally agreed rules in the name of profit,” said Rhiannon Horsley, of Reading University: “Thailand’s move was entirely legal and is part of their commitment to ensure access to medicines. Abbott must stop its bullying.”
An Abbott spokesman told Positive Nation: “Abbott believes it is in the patient’s interest to receive the best medicines at the best price.
“Abbott has communicated its programmes and positions, including offering Thailand a price of US$1,000 per person for one year of lopinavir/ritanavir [Kaletra], which is a lower price than any generic lopinavir/ritonavir in the world today.
“Abbott’s product is the only version that has proven quality via World Health Organisation pre-certification.
“Abbott has made significant efforts to fight HIV in the developing world, including Thailand,” the spokesman added.
Last year global sales of Kaletra were $1.1 billion.

As Abbott staff arrived for work at their Maidenhead UK HQ last month they were met by students dressed as the Grim Reaper and giant pills. Protesters were literally being sick, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with ‘Abbott makes me sick’ and bearing placards saying ‘Stop Abbott bullying Thailand’.
• www.stopaidscampaign.org.uk
• www.spw.org