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ABIDJAN, Mar 12 (Reuters) - The government of Ivory Coast said on Saturday it had struck a deal with leading pharmaceutical companies to slash the price of HIV/AIDS treatment.
Assana Sangare, junior minister for the fight against AIDS, said Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol Myers Squibb had agreed to cut the price of anti-retroviral drugs by 80% to 90%.
"Negotiations are under way with other companies," she said in a statement.
She said that Ivory Coast was "the first country to benefit from this unprecedented effort."
She estimated that the cost of treating an AIDS patient would fall to between 65,000 and 75,000 CFA francs ($92 and $107) per month from 300,000 CFA now.
US drugmaker Merck and Co announced earlier this week a new round of price cuts in response to cut-price offers by producers of generic AIDS drugs and growing public concern about inadequate access to life-saving medicines in developing countries.
The move comes as the pharmaceutical industry is embroiled in a fierce legal battle over access to cheap drugs with the government of South Africa, the country with the world's highest number of HIV infections.
Ivory Coast is one of the worst affected countries in West Africa, with an estimated 10% of the population HIV-positive.
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