Burkina Faso to purchase generic drugs from Indian company

The government of Burkina Faso has signed a contract to purchase generic antiretroviral drugs from the Indian pharmaceutical firm Cipla.

Health Minister Alain Yoda said the deal would bring down prices of AIDS medicine to between $37 and $70 per month. Under an earlier agreement reached with a European company, treatment cost up to $150 a month. However, prices of drugs remain “an obstacle for the treatment of a great number of people who really need them,” Yoda said. About 6.5% of Burkina Faso’s 12 million citizens are infected with HIV, according to a recent UN study. Currently only 675 people in the country are being treated with AIDS drugs, Yoda said. About 45% of the nation’s population lives on less than $120 a year.