President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said Ghana would continue to wage a campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS and to make the necessary impact, anti-retroviral drugs should be made accessible and affordable to infected patients.
Speaking when Dr Michel Manon, Vice President (Africa) of Bristol-Meyers-Squibb Pharmaceutical Company, led a four-man delegation to pay a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, President Kufuor appealed to pharmaceutical companies involved in the manufacture of the anti-retroviral drugs to balance their profit margins to the benefit of humanity.
He said when the company established its base in Ghana in the fight against the disease it would have a market in the sub-region which had some 250 million people. President Kufuor said government would provide the needed assistance and not allow any red-tapeism in their partnership with local companies to produce the drug.
Dr Manon said the Company had established a relationship with the United Nations on a plan to accelerate an access programme for HIV/AIDS patients on drugs they manufactured.
He said it was the aim of the Company to extend and enhance the lifespan of infected patients not only in developed countries but developing countries as well, adding that Ghana had been their destination in Sub-Saharan Africa.
