Hands Off Our Medicine Campaign

But just as important gains are beginning to show their promise for patients, a stagnation in donor funding, coupled with trade policies that will create serious additional barriers to accessing affordable generic medicines, are dealing HIV/AIDS treatment a double blow.

In late 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new international recommendations concerning the fight against HIV/AIDS. WHO advocates treating more patients by starting antiretroviral therapy at an earlier stage and using higher quality drugs. These measures will result in an increase in the number of infected people eligible for treatment. While beneficial, the new recommendations pose many challenges and come amid an unfavorable global environment.