Brasília, April 1, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Tomorrow, Brazil will receive authorization and the technology to produce Benzonidazole, the best medicine available in the world to treat Chagas Disease. The donation will be made at the headquarters of Roche Laboratories, in Basil, Switzerland.

The Brazilian government will be represented at the ceremony by the physician and Senator, Tião Viana (PT-AC), together with the chief executive of Roche's Pharmaceutical Division, Bill Burns.

Benzonidazole, released by Roche in January, 1980, has already been used to treat more than 200 thousand cases in Brazil.

Conservative estimates indicate that Chagas Disease, which only exists on the American continent, affects 5-6 million people in Brazil and causes around six thousand deaths annually. On the continent as a whole, the disease affects a population estimated at 18 million people, from the South of the United States to Patagonia, in Argentina. Overall, around 20 thousand packages of Benzonidazole are consumed each year (each package is sufficient to treat one patient). Brazil is by far the largest consumer; 13,300 packages were sold in Brazil last year. (DAS)