Bill Clinton urges U.S. drug companies to be more flexible on generic drugs

Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president, is urging the United States to be more flexible in allowing money pledged for AIDS prevention to be used for low-cost generic drugs, and he has criticized U.S. drug manufacturers for pressuring the government to restrict use of those funds.

Clinton also said more funds are needed from donor nations to step up the global fight against the epidemic.

Despite the fact that the U.S. has pledged more money to fight AIDS than any other nation, its policies often forbid using those funds to purchase low-cost generic drugs from companies in India and Brazil, and this has considerably hampered efforts to fight the epidemic in poor countries where AIDS patients cannot afford expensive drugs patented by western firms.

Clinton told a meeting of business leaders in New Delhi, that American companies have been too harsh in lobbying the U.S. government to restrict the use of those funds. He says that greater flexibility is needed in using the money that the U.S. has appropriated.

Clinton, has made the battle against AIDS a focus of his post-presidential life, and says he had recently discussed the issue with President Bush.

The former president who was recently named U.N. special envoy for tsunami recovery, was visiting India as part of a tour of the region devastated by the Dec. 26 disaster.

His comments were in response to questions on how the world can ensure universal access to medicines to fight AIDS.

He said the number of AIDS patients receiving treatment in the developing world has jumped to 700,000 from 200,000 three years ago, largely because of the availability of low-cost generic drugs from India and Brazil.

Clinton's foundation has been supplying such medicines to victims in Africa and elsewhere, and in his speech he acknowledged that India's new patent law, which prevents Indian companies from copying any new lines of drugs from Western companies, could hurt efforts to expedite universal access to AIDS medicines.

Clinton says he will do his best to persuade American drug manufacturers to grant licenses to Indian companies to make generic equivalents.

India presently ranks second only to South Africa in terms of the number of people infected with HIV, with 5.13 million cases of the virus that causes AIDS. Many health workers fear that ignorance and the stigma attached to the disease could push India into the top slot over the next few years.

Clinton praised India for its battle against AIDS, but warned they cannot afford to slacken off in their efforts.He feels the country has the capacity to be good role model.

Pharmaceutical companies in India have helped save many lives by supplying low-cost AIDS drugs to the world, but many Indians remain deprived of access to such medicines because of a poor health infrastructure. Clinton says his foundation will help India train 150,000 doctors over the next year to treat patients with AIDS.

Clinton says the two main barriers to the global fight against AIDS are the non-availability of affordable medicines and the shortage of trained professionals to treat patients.

He said more money needs to be given from donor nations to the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to help poor countries cope with the diseases.

According to Global Fund Web site, it needs contributions to increase from the current levels of about $6 billion per year to $27 billion by 2007 and $38 billion by 2015.