ACT UP Philadelphia

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release - 19 May 2000

Contact: Paul Davis or Asia Russell

e mail: pdavis@critpath.org

(20 May 2000: Geneva) Delegations from Zimbabwe, Swaziland and other developing nations to the 53rd World Health Assembly withstood an intense pressure campaign from wealthy nations over proposals that would lead to improved, sustainable access to generic versions of AIDS medicines. A coalition of developing countries joined in support during the intense negotiations, mobilizing against efforts of the US and EU member delegations to weaken African amendments to the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS policy directive.

"The fierce insistence by African delegations that access to affordable medication take priority over the interest of drug companies was a wake-up call to the industry-besotted US delegation," said Asia Russell of ACT UP. "In spite of strong opposition, developing nations successfully changed the mandate of the WHO on the crucial issue of affordable medications for HIV."

The coordinated campaign by developing nations come on the heels of high profile announcements from industry and from US government regarding HIV and medication access. On 10 May President Clinton issued an Executive Order following ACT UP's request at a 12 April meeting with US trade, HHS, and Securiy Council officials. The Order announced an end to US opposition to WTO-compliant measures taken by sub Saharan African countries to locally manufacture or import generic versions of expensive life-saving medicines. Additionally, five of the world's largest drug companies and UNAIDS announced an offer of limited and conditional price reductions to poor nations last week. This initiative did not include the consultation of recipient countries.

In response to questions about the drug company proposal during a 19 May press conference, the Health Ministers of Swaziland and Mozambique insisted that only tactics such as compulsory licensing and parallel importing would result in sustained supplies of life-extending medications. The ministers reported that their national public health policies could not be dependent on unpredictable bargains with multinational pharmaceutical companies.

"While price reductions are a positive step, the recent drug company announcement is also a public relations move. Industry is busy planting news stories in the Financial Times and other outlets claiming that pricing is no longer the problem, and that African nations are unwilling or too corrupt or incompetent to take advantage of this offer," said Abdul Hakim of ACT UP. "But at this year's World Health Assembly, PhRMA's fear moved closer to reality: empowered developing nations demanded and won unfettered rights to pursue creating autonomous, sustainable programs for affordable medication access."

Brazil proposed an amendment that would create an accessible database of worldwide drug prices, providing crucial data for cash-strapped countries. The US led and won the fight to weaken the amendment. "This common-sense tool would have offered poor countries significant buying power, but was unacceptable to the multi-national pharmaceutical interests crawling the halls at the Assembly," said ACT UP's Paul Davis. "A simple database, updated regularly, would have exposed shocking price differences between patented and generic AIDS drugs. Big pharma told the countries they own to jump. And the US jumped very high, destroying the Brazil amendment." In many countries with generic competition, the price of patented drugs are as much as 95% higher than the price of generic medicines.

A bloc of wealthy nations from Sweden to US, held the resolution in protracted debate, singling out language in Swaziland's proposal that advocated parallel importing--a strategy legal under WTO agreements--which permits countries to shop on the global market for the best drug price. The move was seen as a contradiction of President Clinton's Executive Order of last week. However, when the drafting group completed its work, a compromise acceptable to the developing countries was reached. "Strength and solidarity on the part of developing nations forced the countries of the North to back down. The actions of the U.S. representatives caused some delegates to question the sincerity of the Clinton order," reported SharonAnn Lynch of ACT UP Philadelphia.

ACT UP chapters from Philadelphia and Paris worked in partnership with public health advocacy groups Medicins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Health Action International during the Assembly, drawing attention to the need for WHO to take leadership in poor countries' struggle for access to affordable, life extending medication.