On Site -- Paul Davis: (215) 280-7536 or Katie Krauss: (215) 816-6936
Philadelphia -- Asia Russell or Julie Davids (215) 731-1844
(If you reach the ACT UP voice mail system, leave a message in box 9)
New York City -- Emmaia Gelman (917) 968-2408

AIDS ACTIVISTS CRASH BUSH'S BETHLEHEM, PA FUNDRAISER Protesters demand candidate Bush back access to AIDS drugs for poor people with AIDS worldwide; condemn horrendous record on AIDS

(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) ACT UP confronted George W. Bush today, disrupting his $500-a-plate fundraiser at the Bethlehem Holiday Inn. ACT UP members disrupted the candidate's showcase from within the luncheon and outside, disrupting the presidential candidate's long-awaited speech announcing his Medicare plan.

Mark Milano, a person living with AIDS and member of ACT UP New York interrupted the candidate, holding a sign reading: "You've sold out people with AIDS to the big drug companies. Your record on AIDS in Texas is horrible," Milano shouted. "You have never mentioned the word AIDS. Where is your plan for AIDS drugs for poor countries."

The candidate, who did not reply, seemed dumbfounded and stood with mouth agape as the activist was dragged out, yelling, "ACT UP, fight back, fight AIDS."

Activists from ACT UP Philadelphia and ACT UP New York then disrupted the receiving line, shouting "What about AIDS!" as the candidate shook their hands, and blocked the candidate's motorcade as the entourage attempted to leave the hotel parking lot.

Activists were detained by police and released. One was held in a choke hold after stepping off a sidewalk into the street. Three citations were issued, two for littering, one for disorderly conduct.

The protesters claim that a Bush presidency would be disastrous for people with AIDS in the United States and around the world, pointing to Bush's poorly-regarded record on AIDS prevention and treatment during his five years as governor of Texas, as well as his strong ties to pharmaceutical companies.

"Bush's silence on AIDS is a disgrace. His so-called compassion ends when the issue is people with AIDS, whether they're from Midland, Texas or Malawi." Requests for a response from the Bush campaign regarding AIDS and drug access have been denied, activists say.

Citing Bush's Medicare plan, announced today, AIDS activists charge Bush with supporting drug companies and insurance firms instead of people with AIDS. "Bush's Medicare plan is corporate welfare, pure and simple," said Laura McTighe of ACT UP. "Rather than using the bulk purchasing power of this giant program to decrease prescription prices, Bush's plan would create a complicated scheme of reimbursement that will limit the coverage of insurance companies and permit drug companies to keep prices high while most seniors and sick people will continue to pay thousands of dollars a year."

While public criticism of domestic and international pharmaceutical company pricing practices has intensified, Bush has faced little scrutiny about conflicts of interest within his campaign's inner circle. Deborah Steelman, Bush's top health care advisor, also heads the top drug company and health industry lobbying firm Steelman Enterprises, Inc. Recent articles report that Steelman would be tapped as Secretary of Health and Human Services for a Bush Administration, making her the top public health official in the country.

"AIDS decimates countries around the globe thanks to drug company greed and government indifference," said Bob Kahn of ACT UP. "And Bush wants to make some drug company flunky the most powerful public health official in the U.S.? Clearly the lives of millions of destitute people with AIDS are inconsequential to him and his industry cronies. This kind of compassion we don't need."

Steelman opposes strategies that activists describe as sensible and cost-effective measures to increase prescription drug access, such as Medicare using its leverage as a drug purchaser to secure reasonable prescription drug prices. Steelman also objects to Third World countries eschewing drug patents in order to obtain affordable generic versions of desperately needed AIDS drugs, although this practice, called compulsory licensing, is legal according to international trade rules.

ACT UP is widely credited with forcing significant change in US trade policy on access to cheap, generic AIDS drugs after the group targeted the Clinton/Gore Administration with a series of "zaps" and major demonstrations. These actions included disruptions of the first several months of Vice President Al Gore's campaign appearances. Following confrontations with the AIDS activists, the Administration recanted, announcing a shift in domestic policy to one of flexibility on the issue of access to medication versus drug company intellectual property protection.

Most recently, on May 10, 2000, President Clinton issued an Executive Order halting the US Government's routine practice of bullying sub-Saharan countries pursuing WTO-legal options to manufacture generic versions of expensive patented medicines. "We fear that a drug-industry backed Bush Administration would reverse the executive order. With 24.5 million African lives at stake, AIDS drugs for Africa must become a campaign issue for Bush as well as Gore." stated ACT UP's Paul Davis.

ACT UP DEMANDS:

· Expansion of the Clinton Executive Order on AIDS drugs and sub-Saharan Africa to all least-developed and developing nations. The US Government must not use its economic power to punish poor countries that are pursuing sustainable, self-sufficient solutions to the AIDS crisis.

· The US Government must facilitate access to generic AIDS drugs for poor countries by calling for the bulk manufacture and distribution of generic medicines to least developed and developing nations at cost. We demand that the US permit the manufacture and distribution by an international body such as the World Health Organization of the numerous medications which the US currently retains rights to. Donation programs, while potentially useful when not riddled with conditions, are never substitutions for sustainable solutions to the deadly lack of access to essential AIDS drugs.

· The US Government must cancel the debt of the world's poorest and most AIDS-affected nations, without imposing onerous conditions.

For more information on ACT UP's campaigns to help developing nations gain access to AIDS drugs see http://aids.org/healthgap.

For more documents on intellectual property and access to medicines see the access to medication website of the Consumer Project on Technology: http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/

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