ITPC - Making HIV treatment affordable

Challenges

Many developing countries around the world do not have access to affordable, lifesaving medicines. To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages”, essential medicines must be affordable. Public health initiatives that increase competition, such as voluntary licensing, have brought about significant price reductions for medicines to treat HIV, but in some cases voluntary licenses may not be available to all developing countries.

Solutions

ITPC worked with local civil society organizations and patient groups in four developing countries to overcome barriers to HIV medicines. ITPC encouraged local stakeholders to use tools provided by national laws and international agreements to assure the quality of the patents that were granted, leading to reduced prices of lifesaving medicines.

The impact achieved

The project increased access to more affordable antiretroviral drugs for Argentina, Thailand, Brazil and Ukraine.