The U.S. Government is paying twice as much for many of the drugs in its global AIDS program as other international aid organizations are, because the Bush administration won’t buy cheaper versions made in India, The Wall Street Journal reported, quoting Congressional investigators.

A draft report by the Government Accountability Office –– the first independent comparison of AIDS-drug prices –– shows that the stark price differences mean that President Bush’s five-year, $15 billion global AIDS fund didn’t go as far as it might have, the Journal said. The GAO data was provided by Senate Democrats, who have criticized the Bush administration for not buying Indian-made drugs that combine three AIDS medicines into one pill, but violate U.S. patent laws because they are copies of brand name products.

(Compiled from news dispatches by Charles Isaac)