WHO recommends Merck, Gilead AIDS drugs

GENEVA, Mar 9 (Reuters) The World Health Organisation (WHO) today said that it had added anti-retroviral drugs made by Merck Sharp&Dohme and by Gilead Sciences to its list of recommended drugs.

The United Nations agency said that Merck's Efavirenz, in two strengths, and Gilead's Tenofovir were ''crucial products'' in the treatment of AIDS.

It also included anti-malaria treatment Artemotil, also in two strengths, made by Dutch concern Artecef.

The WHO's prequalified list of medicines, which totals more than 70 anti-AIDS drugs, is designed to make it easier for developing countries to choose which medicines to buy.

Drugs are added after being submitted for testing by companies.

''Tenofovir and Efavirenz ... and Artemotil ... will considerably boost the choice of therapy in resource-poor countries,'' the WHO said in a statement.

Malaria kills more than one million people a year, more than 75 per cent of them African children under five years of age.

Over three million people died from AIDS last year, and more than 40 million are living with the virus.

REUTERS PR RK1958