AIDS :: HIV Diseases Health Medical Essays

AIDS Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV/AIDS. An estimated 26.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and approximately 3.2 million new infections occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2003. In just the past year the epidemic has claimed the lives of an estimated 2.3 million Africans. Ten million young people (aged 15-24) and almost 3 million children under 15 are living with HIV. An estimated eleven million children have been orphaned by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is not just an African problem this is a world wide concern. It is estimated that over 50 million world wide have contracted the HIV/AIDS virus. (www.avert.org/aafrica.htm) Why during such an epidemic are drugs not reaching the people who need them? There are a few issues surrounding the distribution of these and other drugs including market size, patent laws, compulsory licensing, and price discrimination. Pharmaceuticals have played a key role in improving health world wide. Health trends in the 20th century have had significant improvement due to vaccines and other technological advances. It has been shown from 1962-1987 that a 74 percent decline in infant mortality rates can be attributed to technological advances. (Journal of Economic Perspectives) However, distribution in developing countries is still in dire need of improvement. A major reason for lack of access to pharmaceuticals in developing nations is the size of the market and the lack of revenue that can be obtained from consumers there. As shown in Table 1 from the Journal of Economic Perspectives the US holds almost 40 percent of the world’s pharmaceutical market while Africa has only l percent. The market in Africa and other developing nations is significantly smaller, â€Å"Drug developers often do not even bother to take out patents in small, poor countries† (Journal of Economic Perspectives p70). Diseases in developing countries mainly infectious and parasitic diseases differ from the noncommunicable conditions found in more developed countries, the high cost of research and development and the low payback from consumers in developing countries deter pharmaceutical companies from investing time and energy into diseases that mainly affect developing nations. Developed nations spend an average of $4,000 per person per year on health while developing nations spend on average less than $20 per person. Such a large gap in health spending does not give pharmaceutical firms an incentive to provide research and development in these areas.