Drug resistance increasing in parts of Africa, report shows

"Resistance to AIDS drugs, a problem that has been widely feared over the last decade, is growing in parts of Africa but should not hamper the life-saving drug rollout, researchers reported on Monday" in a study published in the Lancet, Agence France-Presse reports. "Over eight years, prevalence of resistant virus in untreated people soared from around one percent to 7.3 percent in eastern Africa, and from one percent to 3.7 percent in southern Africa," the news agency writes, adding that while "[s]imilar rates of 3.5-7.6 percent were also found in western and central Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean," those rates remained fairly stable over the study period (7/23). "The authors of the new report suggested strengthening pharmacy supply chains to prevent shortages -- a chronic problem in poor countries. They also called for better tracking of patients for whom drugs are prescribed," the New York Times notes (McNeil, 7/23).