Question marks over South Africa's ARV tender

The South African health department has called on drug manufacturers to submit bids to supply the government's antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme, just days before the current ARV tender is due to expire. AIDS experts and activists said decisions on which drugs to include were made with little consultation.

3 Mar 2008

South Africa's new ARV tender represents big business for pharmaceutical companies. (Image: Juda Ngwenya/PlusNews)

South Africa's new ARV tender represents big business for pharmaceutical companies. (Image: Juda Ngwenya/PlusNews)

"The tender specifications were simply released - many of the recommendations made were either ignored or shot down. There has been a severe lack of transparency or participation," said Jonathan Berger, a senior researcher at the AIDS Law Project (ALP), which submitted recommendations for the 2008 tender in September 2007.

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