Argentina and Brazil will join efforts to build a pharmaceutical plant for the production of drugs to combat several diseases including HIV.
The announcement was made during a state visit to Brazil’s capital Brasília by Argentine President Nestor Kirchner who met with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Argentine and Brazilian Ministers of Public Health, Gines Gonzalez Garcia and Saraiva Felipe, told journalists that the pharmaceutical plant will be built in Argentina and both countries will provide the necessary investment, which has still not been quantified.
The first meetings among experts from the two nations to begin drawing up detailed plans for the project will be held in Buenos Aires, the ministers said.
"It’s an agreement of great significance for our health systems and policies, and will also have a big impact on both economies of Brazil and Argentina plus the scientific research involved," said Gonzalez Garcia.
The joint pharmaceutical initiative was anticipated during the last presidential summit last November in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. The joint protocol for the research, development and production of pharmaceutical products and vaccines includes retroviral such as those used to combat HIV.
Brazil already has a government run laboratory for the production of a quick HIV testing system.
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