Associated Press Writer AIDS Focus Cdn. AIDS victims in poor countries would rarely benefit from a reduction in drug prices because the clinics needed to distribute them don't exist, the head of a drug manufacturers federation said Wednesday. Aid agencies say companies are ignoring the misery of sufferers because prices are well beyond the reach of most. Around 90 percent of AIDS victims live in developing countries, most of those in sub-Saharan Africa.
Drug companies counter that they spend a lot of money on research and development.
If new drugs are to be created, then manufacturers have to charge prices which will allow them to recoup their investment and make a profit. Bale said governments should improve the infrastucture to distribute drugs instead of making scapegoats of pharmaceutical companies. He insisted that drug companies were offering their drugs as significantly reduced prices, but that governments were failing to respond to such offers. He added the United Nations and relief agencies were not providing the technical help needed. He denied that the drug companies were putting so many conditions on their offers that they became meaningless.