An Ethiopian company has started producing generic drugs to treat HIV/AIDS that it plans to sell throughout east Africa at a lower cost than imported medicines.
Tsegaye Gebreselassie, general manager of the privately owned Addis Pharmaceutical factory, said on Friday the plant started production of anti-retroviral drugs this week after a year of testing.
By next month it says it will be producing seven different types of anti-retroviral drugs - the only medicines that can slow the progression of AIDS - for the domestic market.
"It is certain that our drugs will make a difference. They will help the poor people in Ethiopia and the region to get the drug easily and with less cost compared with those being imported from overseas," Gebreselassie told Reuters.
About 3 million of Ethiopia's 67.8 million people are already infected with HIV/AIDS, and the Health Ministry estimates that about 1,000 people are infected daily.
By the end of 2005, the $39 million factory in Adigrat, 800 km (500 miles) north of Addis Ababa, plans to begin exporting the drugs to neighbouring Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, he said. It hopes to produce 1.2 billion capsules annually.
"Our medicine will be relatively cheap compared with those being imported into Africa. But the price could still go down if donor countries and organisations financially help factories producing medicines," he said.
Donors have given more than $60 million to help Ethiopia fight HIV/AIDS.
While the government has given the project its blessing, it is not yet clear whether it will buy the drugs for its promised plan to distribute free medicines to the poor.
The United Nations has criticised Ethiopia's government for moving too slowly to contain the pandemic and failing to implement the drugs plan.
The government has set up youth clubs, testing centres and public awareness campaigns, but there has been no noticeable decrease in infection rates.