Abstract

AIDS: Access to new combination drug therapies for the treatment of AIDS is varied across the European Union, where some countries have agreed to reimburse patients for the costly drugs but others are reluctant to do so. The drugs are provided in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, but not in Spain, Italy, Belgium, or the United Kingdom. At a press conference organized to highlight the need for government action, Philippo von Schloesser of the European AIDS Treatment Group estimated that 11,830 deaths could be prevented in these countries if the treatments were used. Dr. Joep Lange stressed the importance of treating HIV with the most powerful drugs available to curb drug resistance. Reimbursement for the drugs is now being negotiated in Spain, while hospitals in the United Kingdom are being told to cut costs in other areas if they want to prescribe the costly therapies. Even with a 7 percent increase in funding, however, Britain's AIDS treatment budget is inadequate to provide an updated level of care. Italian patients, meanwhile, are likely to continue to face limited treatment options due to the lack of funding for small local hospitals. At the EATG press conference, University of North Carolina researcher Kit Simpson reported that in some European countries, the impact of triple-combination therapy on morbidity and mortality could offset drug costs by 50 percent to 60 percent.