Australia joins AIDS war

The UN is getting specific goals and timelines for reducing the spread of AIDS

SYNDEY, Australia -- The Australian government says it is in negotiations with national drug companies to provide cheaper AIDS treatments to developing countries in Asia.

A health ministry spokesman told Reuters the move could lead to the annual cost of treating HIV and AIDS patients being cut from $5,000 to $250.

He said countries such as Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji would be among those expected to benefit.

"We'd look to have that finalized towards the end of the year," the spokesman said.

The manufacturers involved in the negotiations with the government include GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bayer, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

IN DEPTH AIDS: 20 years of an epidemic

The announcement comes a day after delegates to a UN AIDS conference in New York adopted a broad and aggressive plan for combating AIDS, setting specific goals and timelines for reducing the spread of the disease.

INTERACTIVE AIDS in Asia

Earlier in the year a regional conference said Asia risked an AIDS epidemic of African proportions unless it prevented the spread of the disease while transmission rates were still low.

The Australian initiative was welcomed by senior health official Rob Moodie, who is helping to coordinate policy on combatting AIDS in the region, although he warned the lower price would still be too high for many people.

"If this ambitious plan is put into action it will save lives, no doubt about it," Moodie said in a statement. "However A$500 a year is still an astronomical figure for hundreds of millions of people throughout our region." Moodie is co-chairman of the sixth international congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, which is to meet in Melbourne in October.

Asia risks African epidemic

The Australian plan follows a landmark case in April in South Africa when nearly 40 international drug firms dropped a court challenge over South African government plans to import cheap AIDS drugs.

About 4.7 million, or one in nine, South Africans are infected with AIDS or the HIV virus which causes it.

Health bodies estimate about 6.4 million of Asia's three billion people are infected with AIDS or HIV. The U.N. AIDS programme said South Asia was "already a hotbed of infection" and the fastest growing infected area outside sub-Saharan Africa, with India, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand identified as having worryingly high levels of infection.

The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday quoted Wooldridge as saying Asia could become "the world epicentre of HIV." His spokesman said the government would not be looking at providing subsidies or tax breaks to the drug manufacturers to encourage lower prices for the developing nations.

"No, we'd be looking to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for them to reduce their prices," he said.

Australia last year launched a A$200 million, six-year programme to help combat the spread of HIV and AIDS, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region by funding prevention projects in countries including Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Reuters contributed to this report.