Bay Area AIDS community leaders and physicians are defending Brazil's successful AIDS treatment policy which has become the newest target of international lawsuits by U.S. drug-makers claiming patent violations and lost profits. Thirty-nine American and European pharmaceutical companies are already suing the government of South Africa, claiming patent violations under international trade rules. A public show of support at the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco will coincide with a demonstration supporting Brazil and South Africa held the same day in Washington DC outside the offices of U.S. trade officials.

Multi-national Corporate Interests Against Brazil:

U.S. drug-maker Merck & Co Inc. is threatening to sue Brazil under trade rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming that Brazilian AIDS research using generic drugs violates existing patent agreements with Brazilian laboratories. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations announced it will withdraw investment in these laboratories if Brazil continues with research using generic AIDS drugs.

The Brazilian Position:

The Brazilian Ministry of Health counters that the Brazilian legal mechanism of "compulsory licensing" is entirely compatible with international commitments in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement (referring to Commercial Intellectual Property Rights) of the WTO. Brazilian foreign ministry officials state that the term "breaking patents" is inaccurate from a legal point of view and could very well give the impression of wishing to violate international agreements or laws, which they state is absolutely not the case. Brazil has stated publicly that they will use the Merck products if an affordable price can be negotiated.

Brazil's public health program has been called a model for other nations in Latin America to follow. A 10-page article by Tina Rosenberg in the Sunday, Feb. 18, 2001 New York Times Magazine focused on Brazil's success. Since 1994, Brazil has reduced it's annual rate of AIDS deaths by almost half. The number of HIV-positive cases in Brazil in the year 2000 was cut to only 530,000, less than half of the 1.2 million HIV cases which had been projected for Brazil by a 1994 World Bank study.

The Bay Area delegation applauds Brazil for its commitment to placing the health and well-being of its people above the economic interests of outside multi-national corporations seeking to profit from the AIDS pandemic.

A press conference will immediate follow a meeting of the Bay Area delegation at the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco on Thursday, April 12. The event is sponsored by Global Exchange and the International Forum on Globalization (IFG)in San Francisco.

Members of the Bay Area delegation include:

Confirmed:
John Iverson, ACT UP/East Bay
Andre Robertson, Black Coalition on AIDS
Donna Rae Palmer, Mobilization Against AIDS/ HealthGap Coalition
Victor Menotti, International Forum on Globalization
Marla Ruzicka, Global Exchange

Invited but Unconfirmed:
South Africans Bongane Nyathi and Sagie G
South African Richard Bowsher
Howard Wallace, Health Care Workers Union
Sydney Levy, Int'l Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission

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