Bill Clinton's Next Fight: Malaria

NEW YORK — Former President Clinton's foundation has signed pricing agreements with several suppliers involved in making a malaria-fighting drug in an effort to stabilize the medication's fluctuating costs and ensure more dependable availability.

The former president in 2002 established an HIV/AIDS initiative that sought to negotiate lower prices for antiretroviral treatments, and he since has expanded his focus to include malaria treatments such as artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACTs.

Artemisinin is an extract of the plant known as wormwood or sagewort. One of the factors making the price of artemisinin so volatile _ fluctuating from $155 to $1,100 per kilogram in recent years _ has been a wildly erratic cycle of shortage and excess of the extract, Clinton said Thursday at a news conference.

"Today the supply as well as the demand have led to these dramatic fluctuations in prices," Clinton said, holding up a green clipping of the plant. "Our goal, among other things, is to make sure that this little plant is available in sufficient supply, and that over time we can rationalize the prices."

The drug makers and the United Nations Special Envoy on Malaria joined Clinton for the announcement at his foundation's Manhattan headquarters.

Clinton said he has negotiated with six suppliers involved in producing ACTs that have agreed to certain price ceilings that the foundation says will help keep prices constant and not so dependent on the fluctuating cycles.

The agreements are with two suppliers at three levels of the supply chain _ raw material, processing and final formulation _ and the foundation hopes to add more suppliers.

"There's no question that we're talking about hundreds of thousands of lives being saved by making these drugs affordable," said malaria expert Dr. Christopher Plowe, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who is not affiliated with the groups involved in the agreement.

About 500 million people are sickened each year by malaria, and more than 1 million die from the infectious disease, which is spread by mosquito bites. Symptoms include fever, chills, nausea and shortness of breath.

Besides benefiting from a more stable market, the suppliers that join the Clinton effort also get business and marketing assistance from the foundation.

___

On the Net:

http://www.clintonfoundation.org

Comments

[jeanrenoir]

Excellent. Let Bill fight malaria, and stay far away from the Obama campaign, for the good of the Obama campaign.

[Dantana]

No doubt, used to be a big fan of Bill's, but no more.

[itsafreakingame]

because having sex is far worse then trashing the 4th amendment like Obama did!

[justobserve]

I questioned his silence but on second thought, it's a good thing for Obama. No more headache to fight the controversies, scandals,.., from Bill.

[scorpioleidy]

Do people still pay to see this guy????

[Krikkit]

They pay for his access. He may have lost his street cred, but he still has cred with the bigwigs.

[PumaAnn]

Yes, he gets a lot of his income from talks.

[bodo]

He has to do something for his legacy. So far, most people only remember him for the spots on Lewinsky's dress.

[poco767b]

This is what Clinton should be doing, using his connections and limitless financial pools to make a real difference.
His career as a politician is over and he has found what he should be doing.

[marymansour]

I guess Bill has decided to return to the African front where he did mucho good. I always knew he wasn't going to campaign for Obama once Mama Pant Suit lost the race.

[meanguy]

how soon they forget that, in contrast to the army of pantywaists the dems sent out to slaughter 7 out of the last 11 elections, bill actually got elected...but then again, one thing the left will never forgive is success