The international development charity VSO (formerly Voluntary Service Overseas) is campaigning to persuade Pfizer to reduce the price of fluconazole (Diflucan) in Southern Africa, where it is needed to treat HIV/AIDS-related cryptococcal meningitis.
The charity is asking people to sign an on-line petition calling for a price cut in developing countries. It wants prices to match the generic prices available in places such as Thailand, where the drug is not patented. It also wants Pfizer to allow voluntary licensing of the drug in countries where it is patented.
VSO says that fluconazole is a simple-to-use and effective treatment for cryptococcal meningitis, but in Africa a course can cost the equivalent of two years' wages for many people.
Pfizer has offered to donate fluconazole to South Africa, but VSO says that this is not enough because drug donations do not provide for the long-term planning necessary to tackle HIV/AIDS and related illnesses and because the offer does not extend to other countries that desperately need fluconazole. One such country is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 20 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS are affected by cryptococcal meningitis, VSO says.
The fluconazole petition is part of VSO's "Treatment for life "campaign, which aims to increase the availability of medicines for HIV/AIDS and to help prevent further spread of infection. Information on the campaign is available from VSO, 317 Putney Bridge Road, London SW15 2PN (tel 020 8780 7200; fax 020 8780 7300; website www.vso.org.uk).