Touting a commitment to provide a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to poor countries, the U.S. Department of State disclosed that about 1,000 doses of the Gilead Sciences medication were delivered to Zambia and Eswatini last week, the first delivery under a distribution plan announced late last year.
Meanwhile, Gilead, which manufactures the drug and is providing it at cost, maintained it continues to seek regulatory approval in more than a dozen other sub-Saharan countries where HIV infection rates run high. The region remains the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic.
“I think this is a prime example of what we can do to accelerate progress on global health through championing American innovation and American enterprise,” Jeremy Lewin, a senior bureau official for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs, and religious freedom, said during a media briefing.
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