Thawon, 60, grimaces in pain while resting in his bed at a hospice for HIV-AIDS patients at the Phrabat...
Thawon, 60, grimaces in pain while resting in his bed at a hospice for HIV-AIDS patients at the Phrabat Nampu Temple in Thailand's Lopburi Province February 17, 2007. Last month, the Thai Health Ministry issued compulsory licenses for the heart disease drug Plavix, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis and Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra to treat HIV/AIDS after a similar move on another AIDS drug last year. The licenses, which Thai health officials said would save the country up to 800 million baht ($24 million) a year, drew praise from AIDS activists but flak from Washington and the drug industry, which are urging the ministry to rescind them. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (THAILAND)