Contact: ACT UP NYC: Eric Sawyer 212-864-5672, 917-951-5758
SharonAnn Lynch 212-674-9598, 917-797-9203
ACT UP Philadelphia:
Julie Davids 215-212-9050, pager.

(May 5, 2000: WASHINGTON) ACT UP has learned the White House will imminently announce an executive order with the precise language of the Feinstein amendment (SEC. 116) which was stripped from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and House Speaker Hastert. The amendment states a U.S. federal department or agency CAN NOT "seek, through negotiation or otherwise, the revocation or revision of any intellectual property or competition law or policy that regulates HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals or medical technologies of a beneficiary sub- Saharan African country if the law or policy promotes access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals or medical technologies." [full text of amendment below].

Last Thursday, eight AIDS activists were arrested and charged with "Disrupting Congress" for delaying the vote on the African Growth and Opportunity Act/Caribbean Basin Initiative in the House of Representatives. The activists caused the proceedings of the vote to come to standstill for ten minutes by chaining themselves to a balcony, chanting "AFRICA IS NOT FOR SALE- AIDS DRUGS NOW," and holding a banner that read "AFRICA IS NOT FOR SALE." The bill went on to pass in the House.

The activists were protesting the elimination of the provisions on access to HIV/AIDS medications and the erosion of development and child labor provisions of the bill. The converse of the Feinstein-Feingold amendment was added to the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) provisions allowing the U.S. government to challenge the pharmaceutical access rules that are legal under the WTO TRIPs agreement that covers intellectual property.

"At the behest of the pharmaceutical lobby, Senator Lott and House Speaker Hastert stripped Senate language from the bill that would have increase availability of affordable generic versions of expensive patented AIDS medications for Africa," said Paul Davis from ACT UP Philadelphia. "What's worse, Congressional leadership is acting with callous indifference to hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS in the Caribbean by reversing the Clinton Administration's promise to leave internal decisions about access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals up to individual countries without meddling in their domestic affairs at the WTO."

The amendment in its entirety:

SEC. 116. ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS PHARMACEUTICALS AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that-

(1) since the onset of the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic, approximately 34,000,000 people living in sub-Saharan Africa have been infected with the disease; (2) of those infected, approximately 11,500,000 have died; and (3) the deaths represent 83 percent of the total HIV/AIDS-related deaths worldwide.

(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is the sense of Congress that- (1) it is in the interest of the United States to take all necessary steps to prevent further spread of infectious disease, particularly HIV/AIDS; (2) there is critical need for effective incentives to develop new pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and therapies to combat the HIV/AIDS crisis, especially effective global standards for protecting pharmaceutical and medical innovation; (3) the overriding priority for responding to the crisis on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa should be the development of the infrastructure necessary to deliver adequate health care services, and of public education to prevent transmission and infection, rather than legal standards issues; and (4) individual countries should have the ability to determine the availability of pharmaceuticals and health care for their citizens in general, and particularly with respect to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

(c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS- Funds appropriated or otherwise made available to any department or agency of the United States may not be obligated or expended to seek, through negotiation or otherwise, the revocation or revision of any intellectual property or competition law or policy that regulates HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals or medical technologies of a beneficiary sub- Saharan African country if the law or policy promotes access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals or medical technologies and the law or policy of the country provides adequate and effective intellectual property protection consistent with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights referred to in section 101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

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