For Immediate Release: OCTOBER 17, 2002
Contact: Sharonann Lynch +1 212-674-9598; Asia Russell +1 267-475-2645

Global Day of Action against Coca-Cola
AIDS Activists Across the U.S., Throughout the World

Call for Coke to Provide Free AIDS Treatment for Workers & Families in Africa
Students Organize at 12 Colleges to "Kick Coke Off Campus"

(Manhattan) In one of multiple simultaneous protests throughout the US and around the world, angry AIDS activists will converge at Coca-Cola's offices in midtown Manhattan charging the giant soft-drink corporation with "medical apartheid" for refusing to pay for AIDS treatment for workers and family members living with HIV/AIDS. The demonstration is part of a Global Day of Action against Coca-Cola with simultaneous protests against Coke in seven major cities and a dozen university campuses in the US, and 10 different countries. Students from Morehouse College to Harvard University and a dozen other universities will announce the launch of a "Kick Coke off Campus" campaign calling for the severing of exclusive contracts if Coke does not meet activist demands.

Bearing a 25-foot inflatable bottle emblazoned with the words "Coke's Neglect=Death for Workers," the more than 700 activists will chant "Coke Lies, Workers Die, AIDS Treatment Now!" while a mock Coca-Cola CEO Douglas Daft will heave 32 body bags at the doors of Coke's offices, symbolizing workers "Dead from Coke's Neglect." The number of body bags represents the number of Coca-Cola bottling partnerships in Africa that do not provide AIDS treatment under the company's new AIDS initiative unveiled September 29.

After months of protests and direct actions, AIDS groups from across the globe issued a call for a global day of action in July 2002 at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, 12 months after Coke first promised to bring AIDS treatment to workers. Seeking to pre-empt a firestorm of negative publicity and under pressure from activists, Coca-Cola announced on September 29 that the company would launch an initiative to enroll African bottlers in a cost-sharing scheme to bring treatment to a small percentage of workers.

"After 15 months, Coke has enrolled only 8 bottlers out of 40 in Africa," said Phillip Machingura of Health GAP, "So, at this pace all bottlers will have 'signed on' in 5 years to treat to their dying workers? Coke needs to enroll bottlers and rollout AIDS treatment programs as if its executives' lives depended on it."

Activists also contend that the high co-pay for workers required in the initiative--10% out-of-pocket in most cases--will prove to be a barrier to access to HIV/AIDS treatment, especially for low-wage earners. They also charge Coke with putting its profits over lives by refusing to extend coverage to children and dependents of workers other than spouses.

"Coke needs to do 'The Real Thing' when the lives of its workers are at stake," said Eustacia Smith of ACT UP New York. "Now, as we speak, Heineken and DaimlerChrysler provide AIDS treatment free of charge to workers and their families. Coke is behind the curve and its workers and their families are the ones who are paying with their lives."

"Coke denies affordable generic medicines to the fraction of workers eligible for treatment, while tacking on such a high co-pay that workers will not be able to afford the medicines," said Brook Baker of Health Global Access Project (GAP). "Fully subsidized access to ARV therapy is not only an ethical imperative, but sound business practice that will result in reduced absenteeism, lower incidence of hospitalization, and reduced morbidity and mortality,"

The organizing for such a coordinated series of events has not been without problems. Leading up to the Global Day of Protest, an activist involved in planning a protest in Ghana was detained on Wednesday, shortly after Coca-Cola officials communicated with the police about the details. While Coke denies any association with the activist's detention, activists contend representatives with Coca-Cola Africa in London played a role in the detention and intimidation of members of the Ghana AIDS Treatment Access Groups (GATAG). The activists, refused a permit to hold their event by local authorities, continue to face threats of violence from the police should they proceed with the march.

Activists in Atlanta will also be protesting Coke's policies today, in front of Coke's "World of Coke" museum. Large demonstrations are also scheduled to take place in Philadelphia, at one of the oldest and largest Coke plants in the country and in San Francisco at the Pacific Stock Exchange. Other protests against Coke are planned in Tokyo, Bangalore (India), Washington DC, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and on 12 different college campuses in the U.S. Within Africa, activists in Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso will hold events and rallies. A day before the Global Day of Protest, ACT UP Paris effectively shut down a Coke plant in Paris starting at dawn.

The international coalition of groups taking part in the Global Day of Action demand that Coke guarantee HIV/AIDS treatment free of charge for workers and dependents; ensure the procurement of the most affordable drugs, including quality-assured generic medicines in order to keep costs low for bottlers; commit to sustaining the program indefinitely; and commit to a timely rollout of AIDS programs and enrollment of the remaining 32 bottlers in Africa. They also demand that Coke incorporate comprehensive HIV/AIDS policies and programs, including the provision of antiretroviral therapy, in its standard operations in Africa, not as a short-term charitable initiative from the non-profit organization set up by Coke. The HIV/AIDS policies, the activists contend, should be incorporated as minimum standards in all bottling partnerships and subsidized by Coke.

For a information on protests and events outside of Manhattan and contact information for spokespeople from the global coalition go to: www.treat-your-workers.org

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