The United States has been pushing for foreign patent protection through free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). A gravity model using panel data from 1993 to 2007 suggests that foreign patent protection has not significantly increased the United States’ trade of pharmaceuticals. Other factors are stron...

BACKGROUND External assistance can rapidly strengthen health programmes in developing countries, but such funding can also create sustainability challenges. From 2004-2011, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) provided more than $ 8 million to the Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia (NAMBTS) for supplies, equipment, and staff salaries. This analysis describes the impact...

The intersection of tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has eroded gains made in TB control, because previously well-functioning national TB programs have been overwhelmed by the dual challenges posed by TB and HIV coinfection. The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through its direct support of >2.4 million persons receiving HIV treatment and...

Although the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Africa has been celebrated for its success in providing treatment to more than four million people, there remain core challenges to expanding therapy to those in immediate need of care and those who will require it in the future [1]. The successes have depended substantially on funding from the international community, notably the Global...

BACKGROUND HIV and AIDS continue to have a calamitous effect on individuals living on the continent of Africa. U.S. President George W. Bush implemented the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with the objective of committing approximately $15 billion from 2004 through 2008 to assist with the reduction of the HIV pandemic worldwide. The majority of the PEPFAR policy and funding ...

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a combination of at least three drugs, has substantially improved the prognosis of HIV-infected patients in industrialized countries. 1–3 In resourcepoor settings in Africa, Asia, and South America, where 90% of people with HIV/AIDS live, access to HAART continues to be limited. It is estimated that one million HIV-1 infected individuals presently r...

BACKGROUND Gay men and other men who have sex with men are disproportionately burdened by HIV infection. Laws that penalize same-sex intercourse contribute to a cycle of stigma, homonegativity and discrimination. In many African nations, laws criminalizing homosexuality may be fueling the epidemic, as they dissuade key populations from seeking treatment and health care providers from offering i...

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a combination of at least three drugs, has substantially improved the prognosis of HIV-infected patients in industrialized countries. 1–3 In resourcepoor settings in Africa, Asia, and South America, where 90% of people with HIV/AIDS live, access to HAART continues to be limited. It is estimated that one million HIV-1 infected individuals presently r...