Oppose restrictions on access to generic medicines

published on November 15, 2013 in The Star Phoenix

UNAIDS recently announced that the number of new HIV infections each year in the world has fallen by one-third since 2001.

This success story is a direct result of many countries putting their efforts and funding into HIV prevention and treatment. Antiretroviral drugs, developed in 1996, became widely available in the middle of the last decade and have had an amazing impact on the death rate from acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

However welcome this news, we cannot become complacent. In 2012, 2.3 million people worldwide became infected with HIV. We have yet to reach the global tipping point where the number of new infections is less than the number of infected people started on HIV treatment.

In sub-Saharan Africa where the epidemic is worst, about 470,000 children die each year from AIDS. Most of them contract HIV from their mothers during birth or via breast milk, and half of the children infected die before they reach two years in age. The reasons for these sad statistics are many, with poverty, gender inequality and lack of access to medicines being some of the most important.

Jenny Neal
The Star Phoenix
Read More

View the full article >>

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.

© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.