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PRESS CENTER
GTAC & HEALTH GAP COALITION PRESS RELEASES
Year 2001< | Year 2000 | Year 1999
- 14 DECEMBER (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) The "Ouagadougou Appeal" was launched during the XII International Conference on AIDS by NGOs of people with AIDS by people living with HIV, actors and associations engaged in the fight against AIDS to demand access to antiretroviral treatment for AIDS patients in developing countries. Read The Ouagadougou Appeal
- 14 DECEMEBER 2001 (Lima) People living with HIV/AIDS demand
treatment access and demonstrate outside if the offices of the country's
Health Ministry. About 100 people, including activists from El Salvador,
Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica, participated in the demonstration
held during an Access Symposium. Statement
from Agua Buena Human Rights Association
- 1 DECEMBER (Paris) International health experts meeting release the "Paris Declaration for a Framework for Action: IMproving Access to HIV/AIDS Care in Developing Countries" emphasizing the need for the Global Health Fund for AIDS, TB, and malaria to prioritize financing for AIDS treatment, inclusive of antiretroviral drugs. Read The Paris Declaration
- 1 DECEMBER 2001 (Delhi) India's Affordable Medicines and Treatment Campaign launches and warns prices will be unaffordable due to monopolies on new drugs once India becomes compliant with TRIPS, the WTO's patent system. Activists demand the government uphold affordable medicines for all as a fundamental human right that is enshrined in the Indian Constitution under the right to life and health. Press Statement
- 1 DECEMEBER 2001 (DC) Global AIDS Alliance releases report for World AIDS Day: Pay Now or Pay More Later: An Independent Report on the Response to the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic. The report cites the inadequate response by the international community to the Global AIDS crisis & warns of the costs of further inaction.
Press Statement | Download:
Word Doc | PDF file
- 22-24 NOVEMBER 2001 (Brussels) GLOBAL HEALTH FUND for AIDS,
TB, and MALARIA: AIDS activists from around the world demand the
Global Fund subsidize cheap AIDS Drugs at the Transitional Working Group
meetings, Brussels, 22-24 Nov. Joint Press Conference and statement
by NGOs from Belgium, Burundi, France, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria,
South Africa, South Korea, UK, and US. Press
Conference advisory | Press
Statement | Health GAP
Coalition Issues Paper for November TWG meeting
- 19 NOVEMBER 2001 (Bredell, South Africa) Bredell Consensus Statement on the Imperative to Expand Access to Anti-Retroviral (ART) Medicines for Adults and Children with HIV/AIDS in South Africa is released. It has been endorsed by the participants of the Bredell Conference, which took place on 18 & 19 October. Read Bredell Statement
WTO DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH
- 15 NOVEMBER 2001 (Doha) Reaction to the World Trade Organization Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.
The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference took place in Doha, Qatar November 9-14, 2001. Read the "Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health." Reaction from activists and advocates:
Joint Statement: Médecins Sans Frontières, OXFAM, Third World Network, Consumer Project on Technology ,Consumers International, Health Action International.
- 11 NOVEMBER 2001 (Doha) "TRIPS: will the majority prevail?" NGO Statement on Ministerial Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
Act-Up Paris, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers International, Health GAP Coalition, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam, Tebtebba Foundation, Third World Network. Joint NGO Statement
- 9 OCTOBER 2001 (Geneva) Médecins Sans Frontières releases report showing near empty pipeline of drugs for diseases of the world's poor: "Fatal Imbalance" Download pdf
- 5 OCTOBER 2001 (Cape Town) Médecins Sans Frontières releases report "Accessing ARVs: Untangling the Web of Price Reductons for Developing Countries." Download pdf
- 5 OCTOBER 2001 (Lagos) NGOs form coaliton to focus on access to essential medicines in Nigeria and press government to pass legislaton to enable TRIPS safeguards. Read brief online
- 4 OCTOBER 2001 (Cape Town) MSF launches HIV/AIDS treatment project in Ebute Metta, Nigeria. Press Releases
- SEPTEMBER (Washington DC) Africa Action releases fact sheet "The World Bank and the Denial of Africa's Right to Health". Read online
BRAZIL COMPULSORY LICENSE OF PATENTED AIDS DRUG, NELFINAVIR
- (Brasilia) 21 AUGUST 2001 Brazil's Ministry of Health announces compulsory licensing of Nelfinavir patent. Government Statement
- (New York) 22 AUGUST 2001 Health GAP applauds Brazil action and demands the US administration stop blocking countries' life-saving strategies. Activists condemn
unfair trade agreements and USTR extremist positions at WTO meetings on intellectual property issues and medicines. Health GAP Press Statement
- 31 AUGUST 2001 Join NGO Statement: TAC, Oxfam, MSF
Brazil's decision to grant last week a compulsory license for antiretroviral drug nelfinavir does not break patent rules. The groups support Brazil breaking a monopoly by Brazil that keeps medicines outrageously expensive.
Press Statement
- FEBRUARY - JUNE 2001 (New Yok City) UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL
SESSION ON HIV/AIDS and INFORMAL SESSIONS. For activists' press
releases and statements on UNGASS, Go to UNGASS
PRESS CENTER. Download the UNGASS Draft Declaration of Commitment.
(pdf)
- (Washington, DC) 21 MAY 2001 AIDS activists and debt cancellation advocates question the Bush administration commitment to fighting AIDS and lifting the debt burden as Secretary of State Colin Powell leaves for tour of African countries impacted by HIV/AIDS Joint Press Release
- (Geneva) 18 MAY 2001 After Underfunding UN AIDS Trust Fund, Bush Administration Colludes With Drug Industry to Block AIDS Medication and Care Proposals at World Health Assembly. Health GAP Press Release
- (Geneva) 15 MAY 2001 At the World Health Assembly public interest NGOs demand that the Global Health Fund meets poor countries' needs, not those of industry. Guidelines for the fund were propsed by HAI, Health GAP, ACT UP Paris, and Oxfam UK. Joint Press Release
- 10 MAY 2001 (Nairobi) The Kenya Coalition on Access to Essential Medicines calls on the government to include and full use of life-saving WTO/TRIPS safeguards such as parallel importing, compulsory licensing, and the Bolar provision in the Industrial Property Bill (IP Bill). Press Release
- 08 MAY 2001 (Cape Town) Treatment Action Campaign protests Bristol-Myers Squibb for not honoring the offer made in March to reduce the combined price of anti-retroviral medicines didanosine (ddI) and stavudine (d4T) to US$1/day in sub-Saharan Africa. TAC Statement
- 27 APRIL 2001 (Washington, DC) The National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) coalition to George Bush regarding United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS. Open Letter
- 28 APRIL 2001 (Abuja, Nigeria) President of Nigeria announces programme to provide 10,000 people free AIDS drug cocktails. However, the ability to buy generic drugs at the best current price on the world market will be much more difficult after 2006, when all developing countries are scheduled to be compliant with TRIPS, the Trade Related Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights. MSF/Oxfam Press Statement
- 24 APRIL 2001 (Cape Town) Treatment Action Campaign releases statement oon the Lawsuit: An Explanation of the Medicines Act and the Implications of the Court Victory. TAC Statement
- 12 APRIL 2001 (Minneapolis) AIDS Treatment advocates submit letters to the President of University of Minnesota urging the University take the necessary steps to allow generic manufacture and/or importation of abacavir in each of the poor countries where current abacavir patent monopolies are blocking drug access. Abacavir, developed by the university is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Ziagen. Letter from Health GAP | Letter from Yale AIDS Action Coalition
- 11 APRIL 2001 (Norway) NGOs release joint statement on the goals, proceedings, and outcome of the workshop held by the WTO and WHO: "Differential Pricing & Financing of Essential Drugs." HAI, TAG, MSF, CPT, and Oxfam emphasize need to encourage generic competition to lower prices; employ access tools (such as voluntary licensing, compulsory licensing, and parallel importing); develop global procurement strategies and fund. Joint Press Statement
- 10 APRIL 2001 (Washington D.C.) AIDS activists join unions "Fair Trade" coalition in denouncing the Bush Administration's secretive negotiation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) because it will reduce access to affordable generic versions of essential HIV/AIDS medication, and threaten health care across the Western Hemisphere, including Brazil's succesful access strategies. Press Release
- 10 APRIL 2001 (Paris) ACT UP-Paris questions Kofi Annan's earlier commitment to access to generic medicines in midst of new talk of protecting the pharmaceutical industry's intellectual property rights. The groups calls for Annan's support for the Summit for Access to Generic HIV/AIDS Medicines, May 3-7, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Press Release
- 09 APRIL 2001 (San Francisco) ACT UP-East Bay, advocates, and official of the Brazilian Consulate meet with the press to defend Brazil's use of the legal mechanism of "compulsory licensing" in the face of lawsuitss and pressure by the U.S. Government. Press Release
- 08 MARCH 2001 (Philadelphia) ACT UP Philadelphia announces demonstration at PhRMA headquarters in Washington DC on March 12 to protest the lawsuit against South Africa's Medicines Act and the industry-induced trial delay. Press Advisory
- 05 MARCH 2001 (Cape Town) TAC releases statement on why it chose to be part of the lawsuit where drug companies are challening the South African government and the Medicines Act. TAC outlines its efforts over the past 2 years advocating for affordable access to treatment in South Africa. TAC Statement
- 06 MARCH 2001 (Pretoria) National and international organizations today welcomed the South African High Court's decision to accept evidence from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which represents people living with HIV. Having been accepted as a 'Friend of the Court', TAC will give evidence about how brand name medicines are unaffordable for millions of people living with HIV in South Africa.
Joint Press Release issued by TAC, MSF, COSATU, CPTECH, OXFAM
- 05 MARCH 2001 (Cape Town) TAC releases statement on why it chose to be part of the lawsuit where drug compaies are challening the South African government and the Medicines Act. TAC outlines its efforts over the past 2 years advocating for affordable access to treatment in South Africa. TAC Statement
- 01 MARCH 2001 (Washington DC) The Health GAP Coalition demands President Bush publicly repudiate the lawsuit against South Africa's Medicines Act and state support for South Africa's right to use legal measure to ensure access to affordable medication.
Letter to George W. Bush
- 23 FEBRUARY 2001 (Mumbai, India) Médecins Sans Frontières announces it will distribute generic AIDS drug cocktail free of charge in 10 nations and to government of developing countries at reduced prices. The drugs (stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine) are produced by Cipla Ltd. of India.
Read press release
- 21 FEBRUARY 2001 (Nairobi) Kenya Coalition of NGOs denounced the lack of transparency in price negotiations between the big pharmaceutical companies, UNAIDS and the Kenyan government and called for the lowering of prices as promised. Read press release
- 21 FEBRUARY 2001 (New York City) AIDS activists take over GlaxoSmithKline investor relations office to expose compnay-wide policy of blocking generic AIDS drug acess.
Read ACT UP press release
- 07 FEBRUARY 2001 (Geneva) AIDS Triple Therapy for Less than $1 a Day: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without
Borders (MSF) welcomes the announcement made by generic drug manufacturer Cipla
that it will sell its triple-combination therapy for AIDS to MSF for $350 per
year per patient and to governments for $600 per year per patient. MSF requests that Cipla offer this price directly to governments and UN agencies and challenges the pharmaceutical industry to match generic prices. MSF Press Release | TAC Press Release
- 05 FEBRUARY 2001 (Cape Town) TAC responds to International Intellectual Property Institute's Report: "Patent Protection and Access to HIV/AIDS Pharmaceuticals in Sub-Saharan Africa" (IIPI, 2000). TAC Press Release
- 3 FEBRUARY 2001 (Chicago) Global Coalition of AIDS Activists call on GlaxoSmithKline to withdraw threatened lawsuits in Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa which are intended to block people with AIDS in those countries from having access to generic anti-AIDS medications.
Read press release and letter to GSK
- 05 FEBRUARY 2001 (Cape Town) TAC responds to International Intellectual Property Institute's Report: "Patent Protection and Access to HIV/AIDS Pharmaceuticals in Sub-Saharan Africa" (IIPI, 2000). TAC charges the report report defends drug companies and their economic power while seeking to blame historical inequities caused by unfair trade and local corruption as the source of high drug prices.
TAC Press Release
- 01 FEBRUARY 2001 SIGN-ON LETTER: Activists condemn the pharmaceutical industry's attempt to derail the implementation of South Africa's Medicines Act. The letter calls for the plaintiffs to pull out of the lawsuit against the South African government immediately. Read the Sign-On Letter
- 29 JANUARY 2001 (Washington) Essential Action and the Consumer Project on Technology submit comments to the U.S. Trade Representative regarding the proposed U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) focusing on intellectual property provisions relating to access to medicines and compulsory licensing. Read online | Download PDF file
- 19 JANUARY 2001 (Cape Town) TAC calls on people in every country to mobilise against drug company profiteering on Monday 5 March 2001. On this day, the court action by more than 40 multinational drug companies against the South African government will be heard in the Pretoria High Court. TAC will mobilise actions against drug companies throughout the week 5-12 March 2001. Read TAC's Call to Action
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