South Africa: New-Drug Fund Can Fix Thorny Pricing Problem - IN THE early 2000s, SA was the epicentre of an important battle over the pricing of antiretroviral drugs. After suffering a major public relations defeat, several drug companies retreated and dropped prices to enable their widespread take-up. However, now that many patients are being switched to second-line drugs, the same issues are recurring, with the new drugs priced at about 10 times more than first-line drugs. [All Africa.com]