Africa: Aids drug roadblock

African nations are refusing to accept US Food and Drug Administration approval of generic AIDS drugs, delaying the delivery of the less costly medicine to patients, according to US, UN, African, and drug company officials, The Boston Globe reports. Four countries - Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania - have told South African generic drug maker Aspen Pharmacare that its FDA approval for antiretroviral drugs had no standing in their regulatory reviews of medicine, and that they have long required a study of the drug's safety and quality from the World Health Organization, officials confirmed in interviews last week.