Groups representing patients and health activists have welcomed a decision by the Indonesian government to authorise the use of seven patented pharmaceuticals.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a decree in September that allows the government to use patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B drugs. The patents are owned by companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, GSK, Abbott and Gilead.
US group Public Citizen has published a translation of the presidential decree. The drugs are named as Efavirenz, Abacavir, Didanosin, Combination Lopinavir and Ritonavir, Tenofovir, Combination Tenofovir and Emtrisitabin, and Combination Tenofovir, Emtrisitabin and Evafirenz.