Poor nations feel pressure to save AIDS drugs for the elite, report says

Poor nations feel pressure to save AIDS drugs for the elite, report says

UNITED NATIONS - Poor nations devastated by AIDS are coming under pressure to funnel what few drugs they can afford solely to their political and military elites, a move likely to stir unrest among the rest of the population, a Council on Foreign Relations study found.

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, "is taking its toll far faster than the professional ranks can be replenished with fresh trainees," said council senior fellow and study author Laurie Garrett. Her report, released last week, found that desperately needed teachers and health workers are among the hardest hit.

With at least 39 million HIV-infected people expected to die in the next five to 10 years, "this depletion of elite workers, professionals, political leaders and managers is expected to reach crisis proportions in many countries by 2010, challenging the ability of the state to perform even rudimentary aspects of governance," the report said.

As a result, Garrett said, some countries have started to give political and military leaders access to retrovirals, even though the medicines are not available to the public at large.

But such solutions are both misguided and unsustainable over time, since the power structure will be further undermined as soon as the rank-and-file realize that the elites "get to live a long time and they don't," Garrett said.

Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. umbrella agency for AIDS, and former U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, addressing the same news conference, suggested the U.N. Security Council declare AIDS a worldwide emergency.

But drug companies could be expected to strongly oppose such a move: World Trade Organization rules allow a government declaring a public health emergency to produce generic versions of medicines if no agreement can be reached with the company holding the patent.