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* Scheme initially targets Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam
* Treatments for hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer
* Company plans eventually to roll out to 30 countries (Adds details on cost of medicines, spike in diabetes cases inVietnam)
By John Miller
ZURICH, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Novartis AG has begun a programme in Kenya, Ethiopia and Vietnam to supply15 low-cost medicines to fight chronic diseases like diabetesand high blood pressure.
The Swiss-based pharmaceuticals group said on Thursday its
scheme would supply drugs for just $1 per treatment per monthto governments, aid groups and others for a range of conditionsthat also includes cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
The drug list includes Novartis's valsartan forhypertension, vildagliptin for diabetes, and generics from itsSandoz division including tamoxifen for breast cancer. Thecompany aims eventually to expand the scheme to 30 developingcountries.
For comparison, in the United States, a generic form oftamoxifen costs about $100 per month, according to the Susan B.Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
In Australia, the full cost of a 60-day course ofvildagliptin tablets is about $97 Australian dollars ($67.44),according to the country's publicly funded NPS Medicine Wise.
Responding to past criticism of the industry over the costof medicines in low-income countries, many firms includingNovartis, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline alreadyprovide drugs at lower prices than in the developed world.
Novartis chose Kenya, Ethiopia and Vietnam because of theproblems people there have in obtaining sophisticated medicinesand because the company said it already has a strong presenceand ties to non-governmental organisations there.
Poor healthcare infrastructure and little education aboutdisease, as well as cost, are among the obstacles many people indeveloping countries face in gaining access to advanced drugs.
Novartis did not immediately return phone calls seekingdetails.
The United Nations has highlighted concerns over thedeveloping world's ability to cope with escalating chronicdisease, citing data showing about 85 percent of prematuredeaths from non-communicable diseases occur in developingcountries.
The U.N. estimates more than 40 percent of adults in manyAfrican countries have high blood pressure, while four-fifths ofthe world's 350 million diabetes sufferers are in developingnations.
Vietnam has seen a recent rise in obesity-related metabolicdisorders including Type 2 diabetes especially in urban areaswhere diets are getting richer and fast-service restaurants areproliferating, according to the International DiabetesFederation.
Other pharmaceutical companies have publicised similarefforts to trim drug costs in the developing world.
Amid pressure on the pharmaceuticals industry to do more,GlaxoSmithKline in 2009 agreed to slash drug costs for poorcountries. Novartis's cross-town rival, Roche, is working withthe government in Ivory Coast to provide medicines for breastcancer and hepatitis.($1 = 1.4382 Australian dollars) (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharamanand Adrian Croft)
