For an AIDS-Free Generation

For an AIDS-Free Generation: Access to Drugs and Diagnostics Is Essential

Dec 01, 2014

By: Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner, FDA and Jimmy Kolker, HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs

On World AIDS Day this year, tens of millions of people with HIV are now living healthy, productive lives because of access to safe and lower priced medicines. We rejoice in this achievement, because all people, no matter how rich or poor, deserve to have the medicines they need to live their lives in the best health possible.
We can truly see in our future an AIDS-Free Generation because of the wide availability of prevention and treatment tools. But the availability of these drugs and diagnostic tools, especially in Africa, was never a given. Ten years ago, in 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committed to support the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by introducing an expedited review process to make generic and low-cost treatment more readily available for the most affected countries. PEPFAR requires antiretroviral drugs to be safe, effective, and of high quality and supports their distribution to people needing treatment around the globe. But meeting these requirements can be costly and time-consuming. Those suffering from AIDS cannot wait. The FDA, an agency that is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), applied the tentative approval process in order to increase dramatically the number of products approved for purchase and distribution by PEPFAR.
Read More: For an AIDS-Free Generation: Access to Drugs and Diagnostics Is Essential