Press Statement
ACT UP PHILADELPHIA
ACT UP NEW YORK
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Asia Russell (215) 731-1844 (If you reach our voice mail, leave a message in box 9.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
US CONTINUES TO BLOCK ACCESS TO LIFE-SAVING MEDICATION IN AFRICA
Activists Denounce Clinton's Seattle Announcement; Challenge UN Security Council to Condemn Big Business/Government Collaborations Denying AIDS Drugs for Millions
(January 10: New York) Today's United Nations Security Council meeting, chaired by Vice-President Al Gore, addresses the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa. This meeting follows a year of intense activist criticism of US trade policy on AIDS in Africa, marked by mass protests, and culminating in a recent statement of US policy reform by President Clinton.
At the Seattle WTO Ministerial meeting, Clinton announced: "W]hen a foreign government expresses concern that U.S. trade law related to intellectual property significantly impedes its ability to address a health crisis, USTR [the US Trade Representative] will seek substantive information from HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] on the health conditions prevailing in that country. This will enable USTR to ensure that the application of U.S. trade law related to intellectual property, consistent with international trade treaties, is sufficiently flexible to respond to public health crises."
Activists contend that, without continued pressure, the announced policy shift will not result in substantial change. "Collaboration between USTR and public health officials is a welcome-if overdue-change," said John Bell of ACT UP. "But this dubious process misses the point: US trade pressure on poor countries must end immediately."
More than 40 countries remain on USTR's 301 "Watch List" or are otherwise involved in bilateral trade disputes with the US regarding pharmaceuticals access. Tunisia and Egypt are among the African nations currently targeted by USTR for their efforts to increase essential drug access.
After confrontations with Gore on the campaign trail, including mass protests in DC and Philadelphia, the Clinton administration reversed its position on the South African law authorizing trade measures such as compulsory licensing (generic production of patented drugs) and parallel importing (drug purchasing through third party country) [http://www.ustr.gov/releases/1999/09/99-76.html].
These measures are legal according to international trade agreements on intellectual property can reduce medication prices by as much as 90%. However, the South Africa agreement will not be applied to other struggling nations, according to Clinton's top AIDS advisor Sandy Thurman; activists are demanding that this agreement be extended to all poor countries in need of essential medications.
"We forced Gore to do the right thing on access to essential drugs in South Africa, but US trade policy on medication access is still deadly despite reform," said Joyce Hamilton, ACT UP member. "Poor countries remain vulnerable at the hands of big business and USTR."
At today's meeting, Vice President Gore is expected to announce a new US funding initiative on Africa. "At the behest of the multi-billion dollar drug industry, and on the taxpayer's dime, the Clinton Administration has spent years bullying poor nations who were simply trying to provide medications for its citizens. Gore's call for a drop in the funding bucket -- with no certain fate in Congress -- rings hollow," said Del Guilfoy, ACT UP member. "Right now, our government is keeping African nations from saving the lives of millions of people with AIDS. An end to these US pressure campaigns would cost taxpayers nothing."
In Kenya, where AIDS kills 500 people daily, drug manufacturer Pfizer has lodged a lawsuit against the Kenyan government for its efforts to do parallel importing of low-cost fluconazole, a medication that treats and prevents the fungal infections responsible for 25% of deaths among Kenyans with AIDS. "The UN Security Council must call for an end to deadly collaboration between US government and corporate interests," said Paul Davis, ACT UP member. United Nations estimates state that 33.6 million people worldwide are HIV infected; 70 percent of these live in sub-Saharan Africa. 80% of the 16 million AIDS related-deaths worldwide have occurred in Africa.
ACT UP Demands:
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