UNAIDS HIV Drug Access Initiative: Providing Wider Access to HIV-related Drugs in Developing Countries, Pilot Phase

* The presence of an active National AIDS Programme, and a wellestablished public health platform;
* The capacity to implement and evaluate the pilot phase.
Additional countries may join the Initiative as it progresses.
National Advisory Boards
Any country participating in the Drug Access Initiative is required to have a
National HIV Drug Policy, to ensure that all drugs made available through the
Initiative are consistently and properly supplied and rationally prescribed and
used. A well-coordinated National HIV Drug Policy, addressing both drug
supply mechanisms and health care delivery systems, is critically important to
the success of the Initiative in each participating country.
This National HIV Drug Policy is determined by each country's Ministry of
Health, based on the recommendations of a National Advisory Board or
equivalent body. In each participating country, the Advisory Board:
* Proposes a National HIV Drug Policy, including recommendations on
currently available therapies and the clinical management of HIV infection;
* Establishes a list of locally needed HIV-related drugs, estimates the
country's needs for HIV-related drugs, and recommends country-specific
treatment guidelines;
* Recommends minimum requirements for two levels of health care
facilities:
- First-level centres, where basic drugs are available
- Referral centres, where well-trained health workers and sophisticated
diagnosis and management facilities allow for the prescription of
complex treatments for opportunistic infections as well as
antiretrovirals;
* Makes recommendations on the selection of qualifying centres;
* Recommends objective criteria for a profile of patients to participate in the
pilot project;
* Recommends over time an action plan for improvements of the health
care infrastructure to make HIV/AIDS drugs more widely accessible;
* Recommends regulations concerning privately funded purchases and the
proper use of drugs supplied through the Non-Profit Company.

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