Cape Town — The South Africa National Aids Council (Sanac) has never suggested a zero VAT rating or import duty exemption for AIDS drugs as part of a government initiative to bring down the cost of the drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS sufferers, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said yesterday.

Since the pharmaceutical industry withdrew its challenge to the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act earlier, government has been under pressure to make antiretroviral drugs available to people with HIV.

Zuma was asked by the leader of the official opposition, Tony Leon, whether Sanac had discussed the zero VAT rating of AIDS drugs and the removal of import duties with the finance department. to further reduce the cost of the drugs.

Leon suggested to Zuma that this simple measure would reduce the cost of the drugs by R1500 a patient a year.

Zuma said that government intended to use the act, which provides for parallel importation and generic substitution, to lower the price of drugs.

He said that if Leon had suggestions to make to Sanac there was "no harm" in it and the council would discuss his suggestions.

In a statement Leon said Zuma was one of 50 African leaders who pledged after a regional HIV/AIDS summit in April to remove all tariffs and barriers to AIDS programmes, but to date "no members of SA's cabinet have taken any steps to do so".

"While prices charged by drug manufacturers have declined significantly recently, government has done nothing to explore the part it could play in making AIDS treatment more accessible.

"A direct way in which government could fulfil the AIDS Summit pledge would be to remove VAT on AIDS drugs.

"By charging VAT on essential medicines, government is putting AIDS care out of the reach of many. While calling on industry and international donors to cut the cost of drugs, it is hypocritically failing to play its own part."

Leon's Democratic Alliance colleague Kobus Gous said the retention of import duties on the drugs meant that international pharmaceutical companies had to pay (duty) before they could give drugs to SA.

Leon proposed "removing VAT on all drugs on the Essential Drugs List, which would include all basic drugs for treating opportunistic infections (as a result of HIV/AIDS infection)".