| Central
American countries join forces to buy AIDS drugs
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Media report source: Reuters,
via Kaiser HIV/AIDS Report, 11 August 2001
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Six Central American countries have
joined forces to create a purchasing tool to try to negotiate lower prices
for AIDS drugs by buying in bulk, Reuters reports.
Health ministers from the six nations
-- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama --
formed the agreement during a Friday meeting in Honduras. One firm, Merck,
Sharp and Dohme, has offered to "slash" the prices of two of its AIDS drugs
by 85 per cent, but Central American health officials decided they should
"aim for across-the-board-discounts" from all companies.
Of the 36.1 million people infected
with HIV worldwide, 1.8 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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