Cost of AIDS Drugs Forcing Families To Choose Which Members To Treat, Advocates at World Social Forum Say
The high cost of antiretroviral drugs in developing countries has forced some families with more than one HIV-positive person to decide which family members should receive treatment and which should not, advocates at the World Social Forum said on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. About 100,000 advocates, aid workers, academics and trade unionists on the fifth day of the forum attended seminars and workshops on HIV/AIDS. The anti-globalization forum is being held in Asia for the first time and is meant to be a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum, which begins on Wednesday. AIDS advocates said that although the price of antiretroviral drugs has dropped, more needs to be done, according to the Associated Press. "People with a steady income can afford these drugs," Alice Wynne Willson of ActionAid said, adding, "But unless the AIDS drugs are bought by governments and made available through health care systems, it will be impossible for the poor to afford" (Talwar Badam, Associated Press, 1/20).
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