Compiled and edited by Martin Flynn
drugs Combivir, Epivir and Trizivir, totalling three million
doses, never made it to hospitals in central and west Africa. Instead
they were illegally redirected back to western Europe's lucrative markets.
The scandal came to light in July after Belgian customs officers intercepted
a shipment sent from Senegal by one Dutch wholesaler to another.
According to Raymond Salet, a spokesman for the Dutch healthcare inspector's
office, some of the drugs were air-freighted from a GSK factory in France
to Africa, "but the cargo never made it out of the airport before
it was turned back around by these wholesalers in Europe."
GSK says it intends to design special packages and pills for the developing
world market, and is pressing for stricter border controls and adherence
to existing trade regulations.
The Dutch authorities are recalling shipments of the antiretrovirals,
prosecuting the alleged perpetrators and trying to prevent further illegal
redistribution of the drugs onto the European black market.
page 4 of 7
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A new method of using condoms has been developed in South Africa to reduce the spread of HIV. Cape Town entrepreneur Willem van Rensburg has developed a new condom applicator, after research found that many people do not use condoms because they are too fiddly and they cannot put them on in the dark. The new product comes inside a normal-looking condom package, but if the user bends it, it splits open, then the condom slides directly onto the penis, and then the applicator pops off.
