"The number of patients under treatment in Africa rose from 100,000 in 2003 to 1,300,000 by late 2006. It's a substantial progress partly due to the lower cost of the ARVs," said Souteyrand, co-ordinator of WHO department of strategic information and research on HIV/AIDS.
 
He noted: "We are in a positive move marked by a greater financial commitment from donors, a greater political will in the countries affected by the pandemic and good co-operation of the pharmaceutical industry".
 
The WHO official called for the maintaining of the "move" to slash the cost of ARV drugs, noting that the second-line ARVs were still unaffordable in poor countries.
 
"Let's continue the process to drop costs by working further with the pharmaceutical industry. We should mainly get lower costs of the second-line drugs now estimated at US$1,700 annually. With that price, they can't be accessed in southern countries notably in Africa," he told PANA in an interview here Thursday.
 
Commenting on the lack of human resources in the health sector in Africa, he called for a system in which surveillance of the ARV treatment will no longer be entrusted solely to the doctors.
 
"Africa is the world region recording the highest progress in the number of people having access to the drugs, which, obviously, raises the issue of doctors to monitor the administration of the ARVs. We should move towards a system that also empowers other health stakeholders other than doctors," the WHO specialist emphasised.
 
For him, "we should carry on until AIDS control starts impacting on the mortality rate caused by the disease". According to a report released by the WHO on Tuesday, only 26% of the AIDS-infected people in the world have access to the treatment.
 
In Africa, where 25 million of AIDS patients are recorded, only 1.3 million people have access to ARVs. 20 April 2007 - PANA
 
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