I wonder who the four companies are that will offer cheaper aids testing.
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton announced more deals with pharmaceutical companies to provide cheaper AIDS tests and drugs -- a plan that could save developing countries tens of millions of dollars.
"Too many people die simply because they can't afford, or don't have access to, the drugs. Too many people are being infected because most of the people who have the virus today have not been tested," Clinton told reporters on Thursday.
The deals, which were brokered by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, will cut the cost of rapid HIV tests in half for as many as 50 countries where the foundation operates.
It will also cut the cost of Efavirenz and Abacavir -- anti-retroviral drugs that slow the spread of disease.
"This agreement can help save hundreds of thousands of lives," he said.
Four companies will offer the tests for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, at prices ranging from 49 to 65 cents, or about half the normal cost.
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Found it; Four companies—Chembio (U.S.), Orgenics (Israel; a subsidiary of Inverness Medical Innovations), Qualpro Diagnostics (India), and Shanghai Kehua (China)—will offer rapid tests for $0.49-$0.65 per test. As a result of their agreements with the Clinton Foundation, countries will be able to reduce the cost of HIV diagnosis by 50%.
