Por: Bangkok Post
‘Move ensures Aids medications available’
The National Health Security Office board has opted to extend its compulsory licensing in order to produce generic versions of two life-saving Aids drugs until the end of their patents.
The extension of the scheme which overrides the patents for Efavirenz and a combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir drugs was crucial to help cut the cost of treating people living with HIV/Aids, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said yesterday after chairing the NHSO board meeting.
The patent for Efavirenz will expire on Jan 31, 2012, and that for the Lopinavir/Ritonavir combination on Dec 4, 2016.
The cheaper generic versions of the two anti-retroviral drugs were needed even more after the cabinet approved the inclusion of people pending nationality verification into the NHSO’s universal healthcare scheme in March this year.
The compulsory licensing has saved 1.18 billion baht in costs purchasing anti-retroviral drugs under the scheme.
And the scheme should be able to save 3.2 billion baht more of the anti-retroviral drug costs if the compulsory licensing of the two drugs is extended until the end of their patents, he said.
Thailand’s compulsory licensing has also forced down the prices of Efavirenz and the Lopinavir-Ritonavir combination by 3.4 and 6.4 times respectively, Mr Jurin said.
Before the compulsory licensing of the two drugs, about 4,539 people living with HIV/Aids obtained access to Efavirenz and only 39 to the Lopinavir-Ritonavir combination, he said.
But with the compulsory licensing of the drugs, the number of patients receiving Efavirenz has increased to 29,360 and 6,246 people now receive the Lopinavir/Ritonavir combination, he said.
Health activists applauded the NHSO’s decision.
Aids Access Foundation director Nimit Thien-udom said coverage of people eligible to access the two drugs will be extended to state enterprise staff, who were previously forced to pay for the drugs out of their own pocket.
Mr Nimit said state enterprise staff have long been forced to shoulder the cost of the two drugs because to seek reimbursement meant they will have to tell their offices what type of treatment they are receiving, Mr Nimit said. Many refuse to seek reimbursement for fear that others will find out they are HIV-positive.
Kannikar Kittivejakul, of the Chulalongkorn University’s consumer health protection programme, hailed the NHSO’s decision, saying it will largely benefit people living with HIV/Aids and help the government save funds for buying the anti-retroviral drugs.
The cost of treatment with Efavirenz has fallen from 1,200 baht a person a month to only 300 baht a person a month, she said.
The Public Health Ministry announced it will implement the compulsory licensing of seven drugs including the two Aids drugs, a medicine for the treatment of heart and brain blood vessel disease, and four other drugs for treatment of cancer.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/38771/nhso-extends-drug-licensing