africa: Devil's Bargain - Africa and the Pharmaceutical Companies

For the vast majority of Africans -- the 70%-plus who live on subsistence farms off in the bush, or eke out meagre livings in towns -- medical care is a dream. In terms of purchasing power, $1 to $2 a day is the absolute best that Africans, on average, can manage for essentials. In other words, the average daily wages earned are precisely the cost of even the least expensive HIV treatments. This is a Devil's Bargain, no choice at all: The choice is, very simply, between absolute destitution and death.