This issue has reports from the recent 2nd European HIV Drug Resistance Workshop and 5th International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV Therapy conferences plus two final Retrovirus reports. One of the most import presentations from the PK meeting was the analysis of tipranavir interactions with other protease inhibitors (see page 3).

In this issues Treatment Access, Graham McKerrow provides a round up of recent developments in pricing agreements and access issues in resource poor countries.

We are hardly the first to point this out, but we could never have imagined five years ago, that effective fixed dose combinations would become available at less than 3% ot the original cost of HAART and that agreement for global funding would be approved approved for many programmes.

However, even when funding has been approved, or new lower price deals announced, the reality is that very few HIV-positive people have so far actually received antiretrovirals.

Whether even 300,000 people will be on-treatment by 2005 is still in doubt, and we’re almost halfway through 2004.