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Drugs to combat HIV are about to become cheaper in developing countries. The
multinationals Glaxo Wellcome and Hoffmann-La Roche will supply drugs at cut
rates to Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Chile and Vietnam in a two-year pilot
initiative organised by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. Virco, a Belgian
diagnostics company, will train local technicians to screen patients to work out
which drugs to use. “We want to demonstrate that it is workable and
sustainable,” says Joseph Saba, the initiative’s coordinator. The extent of the
discounts is still being worked out.