Six months after five major pharmaceutical companies and the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) declared their intention to make HIV drugs more affordable to poor countries, South Africa has yet to express formal interest in entering negotiations.

In contrast, Senegal recently struck a UNAIDS-brokered deal with drug companies Bristol-Myers, Merck and Glaxo Wellcome which will see a 90% reduction in some drug prices.

However, government sources say that unless the pharmaceutical companies are prepared to negotiate prices with the Southern African region as a whole, it will be problematic.

In May, after increasing pressure from activists and health organisations, Merck, Bristol-Myers, Glaxo Wellcome, Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim, announced that they were prepared to reduce the drugs used to treat people with HIV/AIDS in developing nations.

UNAIDS said in a statement that “in the price discussions (which are being facilitated by UNAIDS) each company negotiates separate agreements with each country so as to avoid antitrust charges of price collusion”.

But talks have been slow and Senegal is the only country that has managed to strike a deal. Bristol-Myers and Merck confirmed that they had reached deals with Senegal which would include 90% reductions in some drug prices.

Glaxo has also agreed to sell antiretroviral drugs AZT and 3TC at lower prices to the Senegalese government, but details are unknown.

UNAIDS spokesperson Ben Plumley said the process was primarily country-led, and South Africa had not expressed formal interest up to now.

A health department source said the fact that individual countries were striking deals with the companies was a source for enormous concern.

She said South Africa has said from the start that it would be more beneficial for regions such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to negotiate with the companies, but that “this does not suit them”.

Plumley confirmed that South Africa had indicated that they were looking at a more regional procurement from a SADC point of view.

He said it was not true that the offer made in May had been a public relations stunt to divert criticism away from drug manufacturers.

“The companies are certainly prepared to translate their commitments into actions. I think Senegal is evidence of that,” he said.

According to UNAIDS, each company negotiates separate agreements with different countries to avoid anti-trust charges of price collusion.

UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation have agreed to assist countries on an “as-needed” basis with a situation analysis in care and support, and the development of an action plan.

The UN will also assist countries on identifying possible suppliers of medicine, including anti-retrovirals.

One option for countries will also be to negotiate directly with suppliers.

According to UNAIDS 12 countries, (including some Southern African countries) have so far expressed formal interest in participating in the endeavour. These include Swaziland, Uganda, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cote D’€™Ivoire, Rwanda, Chile,