South-East Asian AIDS activists today applauded a declaration from ASEAN member countries to act jointly to improve access to affordable drugs for people living with AIDS (PLWAs).

 “People living with HIV/AIDS need care and support not only for improving their quality of life, but also so they can continue to make a positive contribution to society and be able to work as well as look after themselves,” Indonesian AIDS activist Ms. Yacintha Desembriartista said today. 

Ms. Desembriartista, the head of the Hati Hati Foundation in Bali, said support included health and social support services as well as adequate supplies of drugs for treatment and reagents and equipment for testing.  

She said most medicines that positive people needed to allow them to remain active were expensive and outside the capacity of the average person to be able to buy them.  

“What this means is that it not only shortens the life-span of someone with AIDS, but it can also undermine that person’s ability to continue working and maintain their independence as well as care for themselves. Once that happens they become a burden on their families and on communities,” she said. 

Datin Marina Mahathir of the Malaysian AIDS Council said that if all ten ASEAN Member Countries can come together on the issue of drug prices, they will be much more effective. “The drug companies will have to take notice of about 500 million people in the ASEAN countries”, she said.  

ASEAN Secretary-General, Mr. Rodolfo C. Severino Jr., said ASEAN Member Countries would be looking into the feasibility of negotiating with drug companies to obtain affordable prices for drugs that are essential for improving the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS.  

He said this involved several stages, including doing feasibility studies to explore opportunities for cooperation. In doing so they would also review experiences of other countries in negotiating for bulk purchasing and differential pricing. Such countries may include Thailand, India, South Africa and Brazil. 

“This could ultimately lead to discussions between the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS and relevant pharmaceutical companies regarding more bulk purchasing at the regional level,” Mr Severino said. 

Singaporean AIDS activist Mr Brenton Wong, a representative of the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (APN+), who was involved in drafting both the ASEAN Summit Declaration on HIV/AIDS as well as the ASEAN Work Programme on HIV/AIDS, said that as a person living with HIV and representing others who are HIV/AIDS positive, the whole process has been quite emotional for him. 

“Because the HIV/AIDS issue is being dealt with by policy makers at the highest level. And the result will have a great and real impact on the lives of the hundreds of thousands of HIV+ people living in ASEAN”, he said. 

 “All this was brought to bear when I was asked to comment on my feelings about the whole preparatory process and the participation of positive people. It was quite natural that I got a little emotional over the matter and shed a few tears. 

“I was told this had some impact on those attending as it brought home the message that human lives were part of the equation and that the discussions were not about abstract or theoretical matters.” 

The ASEAN Heads of Government adopted the ASEAN Summit Declaration on HIV/AIDS as well as the second ASEAN Work Programme on HIV/AIDS during a special session of the 7^th ASEAN Summit held in Brunei Darussalam on 5 November 2001.

For further information contact:

Mr. M.C. Abad, Jr.

Assistant Director

Public Information Unit

ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta

Tel: 62 21 726 2991

mcabad@aseansec.org