Gates Joins Drug Firms in AIDS Battle

July 10 -- For years, the nation’s behemoth pharmaceuticals have been criticized for not doing enough to fight the ravaging spread of the AIDS virus in Africa.

Today, with the international AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa, Merck & Co. Inc and two other pharmaceuticals announced the companies will join forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to tackle the problem in AIDS-riddled Botswana. The companies and the foundation have promised a total of $100 million over five years to fund clinics, training of the nation’s medical professionals and education about prevention. Nearly 36 percent of the country’s adult population is believed infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

Joining the Battle

“Companies like Merck must be involved in the fight against AIDS,” said Trevor Neilson, a spokesman for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Without them, we will fail. It’s that simple.” Outside the AIDS conference in Durban, activists expressed skepticism about the announcement today, accusing the drug companies of trying to distract people from the high price of the companies’ vital AIDS medicines. “We don’t want giveaways,” said Sharon Ekambaram of the HIV/AIDS People’s Treatment Action Campaign. “We’d rather they reduce the price of (all) their drugs.” It was the latest round in a long-running battle over AIDS drugs, which are crucial for infected people to live longer but so expensive that many people, including governments, cannot afford them.

Looking for a Way to Help

Greg Reaves, a spokesman for Merck, said the New Jersey-based company has had a long history of philanthropy on these types of projects and that the company had been searching for at least two years for the best way to get involved in the AIDS crisis. “The goal for us is to bring about these kinds of partnerships, in a comprehensive way, to address the scourge of AIDS&and accelerate the rate of care and prevent people from contracting AIDS in the future,” Reaves said. The Gates Foundation pledged $50 million over five years to help the country strengthen its health care system. Merck promised to match the value of the Gates’ gift by managing the program and donating antiretroviral medications that help control the disease. On Friday, the German pharmaceutical Boehringer-Ingelheim promised to offered the drug nevirapine free for five years to Botswana and other developing countries to help reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV during childbirth.