Kampala — Uganda's two major HIV/Aids programmne funders have said that the country will have to meet certain standards of quality and price before donors can buy drugs from the newly built antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) factory at Luzira in Kampala.

This was in reaction to President Yoweri Museveni's complaints about the strings that come with aid requiring recipient countries to buy Aids drugs from donor-approved foreign companies.

In an interview last week, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight HIV/Aids, Malaria and TB, Dr Michel Kazatchkine, and the US Principal Deputy Global Aids Coordinator, Dr Thomas Kenyon, said although they did not oppose Mr Museveni's views, certain conditions have to be met first.

While opening the 2008 HIV/Aids Programme Implementers' Meeting last week, Mr Museveni expressed concern about guidelines by the Global Fund and the America President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief saying:

"There are some bureaucratic issues about using money from donors to buy these drugs (ARVs) from our factory. Some people say we should buy from outside. That one, I don't like. Because we do not agree with our partners, we said we shall use our own money."

Mr Museveni said that the country was diverting money from other programmes to buy drugs from the factory.

In response, Dr Kazatchkine said it was time for poor countries to have factories and facilities that produce ARVs. "There is no reason why these generic drugs should always come from the same channel, the same place. When it comes to mass production of generic drugs, I welcome all news that Africa or Asia or Latin America is becoming a producer of generic drugs," said Dr Kazatchkine.

Similarly, Dr Kenyon of Pepfar said there was possibility that his programme could work with Uganda's Quality Chemicals factory.

"There are 68 generic antiretroviral drugs that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Pepfar can purchase and some of these drugs are by the [Indian] company Cipla which is working with the Ugandan manufacturer," said Dr Kenyon.

He said: "So we think it is very promising assuming the technology transfer has been successful from Cipla to the Ugandan manufacturer and that their products once submitted to the FDA successfully go through the approval process."

The two officials said Quality Chemicals must also seek World Health Organisation's approval for its drugs. But the drugs must also be affordable for the Global Fund to support the buying of Ugandan- manufactured ARVs.