'It's long past time when there should be any stigma attached to AIDS and also long past time when we can just look away, knowing that 90 percent of the people who are infected don't know it,' said former president Bill Clinton.

Under the agreement, four companies will offer the tests for 49 cents to 65 cents apiece, slicing the cost of a diagnosis in half. Four more companies will provide the antiretroviral drugs efavirenz and abacavir at prices about 30 percent less than the current market rates, Clinton said.

"Too many people die because they can't afford or don't have access to the drugs," Clinton said at his office in Harlem. "Too many people are being infected because most of the people who have the virus today have not been tested. This agreement can help to save hundreds of thousands of lives."

The products and prices will be available in 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Tests for Half Their Current Cost

Clinton said the availability of quick HIV tests at half their current cost should mean many more people will get tested.

"I hope that the availability of [this] low-cost testing and the quickness of the response will encourage employers all over the world -- especially in the high infection rate countries -- and schools, governments and others to take advantage of this," he said. "It's long past time when there should be any stigma attached to AIDS and also long past time when we can just look away, knowing that 90 percent of the people who are infected don't know it."

The tests will be sold by Chembio Diagnostics Inc.; Orgenics, a subsidiary of Inverness Medical Innovations, based in Israel; Qualpro Diagnostics in partnership with Core Diagnostics, based in India; and Shanghai Kehua, based in China.

Two Antiretroviral Drugs

The two antiretroviral drugs that will be sold at reduced prices under the agreement are typically used when first-line AIDS drugs lose their effectiveness and are several times as expensive as first-line drugs, Clinton said.

"As a result, even if only a very small number of people need these drugs, the cost of treatment can skyrocket," he said.

Cipla, Ranbaxy and Strides Arcolab, all based in India, and Aspen Pharmacare, based in South Africa, relying on active pharmaceutical ingredients from Matrix Laboratories of India, will offer efavirenz for $240 (€198) per patient per year, and Cipla will offer abacavir for $447 (€369).

Clinton said he expects to announce price reductions of additional AIDS drugs later this year.

The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, founded in 2002, provides technical, logistical and financial assistance to poor countries struggling with the epidemic.