Efforts to secure universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment: a comparison of BRICS countries.

This article illustrates how the BRICS countries have been building their focused leadership, making important high level commitment and national policy changes, and improving their health systems, in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemics in respective settings. Specific aspects are focused on efforts of creating public provisions to secure universal access to ARVs from the aspects of active responsive system and national program, health system strengthening, fostering local production of ARVs, supply chain management, and information system strengthening. Challenges in each BRICS country are analyzed respectively. The most important contributors to the success of response to HIV/AIDS include: creating legal basis for healthcare as a fundamental human right; political commitment to necessary funding for universal access and concrete actions to secure equal quality care; comprehensive system to secure demands that all people in need are capable of accessing prevention, treatment and care; active community involvement; decentralization of the management system considering the local settings; integration of treatment and prevention; taking horizontal approach to strengthen health systems; fully use of the TRIPS flexibility; and regular monitoring and evaluation to serve evidence based decision making.

Palivizumab and respiratory syncytial virus disease: selling sickness for future?

Over the past two decades Russia has gone through dramatic "democratic" changes resulting in unprecedented deterioration of health, loss of lives and extinction of population. The health system turned into a ridiculous monster of poorly organized business exploiting reminiscent social values of the past to build profits on selling sickness-for-all in consumer culture. We present facts and conclude that introduction of palivizumab into clinical practice for the most vulnerable patient category was done without confirmation of efficacy, without pharmacoeconomics evaluations, without any precautionary measures in a country with undeveloped pharmacovigilance system. The situation calls for immediate action of responsible authorities and the society as a whole.