Frontline drugs

The G8 nations—the world’s seven biggest economies plus
Russia—pledged to provide poor countries with “affordable” drugs for AIDS,
TB and malaria at their riot-torn summit in Genoa, Italy, this week. But they
rejected any changes to the patents system, which aid organisations say keeps
drug prices high. The G8 pledged $1.3 billion to a Global Fund for
fighting the diseases—less than a fifth of the minimum the UN says is
needed.