Peru: HIV Drug Costs Highest in Region

In Peru, an important HIV drug costs more than in any other country in the region. People whose lives may depend on the availability of this pill have taken to the streets in protest. Civil society organizations have been pressuring the government to break the monopoly of transnational Bristol-Myers on a retroviral that costs the state US$10 million a year. When the Ministry of Health finally agreed to submit a proposal, unofficial representatives of the company and the U.S. government to pressure the government. They have convinced key officials in the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Economics to oppose the measure, based on the argument that the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. is going to be affected due to the violation of intellectual property clauses. Activists say that arguments favoring free trade keep the State from saving millions of dollars that could be spent on much needed health care. Rael Mora reports from Lima for teleSUR