Dear healthmatters – The multi-national pharmaceutical companies are trying to prevent developing countries such as South Africa, Brazil and India from producing their own, cheaper, anti-HIV drugs. Western governments seem reluctant to challenge this – seeming to expect higher ethical standards from drug companies, wishfully thinking that consideration for the well-being of all human beings will temper their drive for profit.

But why should this be so?

Whatever its motives, SmithKline Beecham, for example, is correct to say that tackling HIV takes more than drugs, cheap or not. People with HIV need clean water, good housing, employment, freedom from war and starvation if the drugs are to work for them. Ensuring we are – all – healthy is not amenable to the profit motive of the pharmaceutical companies who exist to make money for the few. The point is that public health should not be left in private hands.

And, after four years of promising, it is time that our own government finally produced its HIV strategy and made clear its own contribution to tackling HIV – here and worldwide – including calling for the companies to drop their lawsuits against developing countries such as South Africa.