---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 12:44:59 -0700
From: Charlotte Utting <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [wa-afr] FW: ACTION: A Sad Day in US History
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From: [log in to unmask]
Organization: Africa Action
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 09:24:43 -0400
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ACTION: A Sad Day in US History
ADNA Action: 010511
Message from: Africa Action
For contact information see also:
http://www.africapolicy.org
Dear ADNA members,
Following find the press release from Africa Action being distributed
this morning as Executive Director, Salih Booker speaks to the
press while local groups protest the inadequacy of the White House
response to the the appeal for funding for a global AIDS and health
emergency response fund.
Feel free to share this with your networks and contacts.
Regards,
Vicki Ferguson
ADNA Co-facilitator for Africa Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan, (202) 546-7961
Aisha Satterwhite, (212) 785-1024
A SAD DAY IN U.S. HISTORY
White House Announcement on Global Aids Funding Equals Death
Sentence for Millions of Africans
Friday, May 11 (Washington, DC/New York City) - Africa Action
today denounced the Bush Administration's proposal to contribute a
meager $200 million to a global fund for HIV/AIDS and other
infectious diseases now being established through the United
Nations. Responding to the White House' announcement that it
would contribute only $200 million dollars for the proposed $10
billion U.N. fund, Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action,
said "In the face of what will soon be the worst plague in human
history, it's tragic that the richest country in human history is
unwilling to contribute its fair share to finance the solution!" Booker
added that, "Underfunding this U.N. initiative means writing off the
lives of millions of Africans and others living with HIV and AIDS, but
signing death sentences especially for black people is nothing new
to this president!" The proposed U.N. initiative aims to unite disease-
prevention efforts and the provision of life-savings medicines in a
new effort made possible by the recent drop in prices for anti-aids
drugs. The price reductions themselves are the result of the
growing protests of anti-aids activists worldwide, and the market
forces recently transformed by the entrance of developing country
producers of generic versions of the previously expensive Western-
patented antiretroviral drugs. The proposed fund also represents an
effort to act upon the emerging global consensus that the world's
AIDS crisis is solvable if patent laws are adjusted to ensure access
to affordable medicines and if patients are provided appropriate
treatment and care supported by adequate global funding.
For two decades, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has raced ahead of the
global response. Over 50 million people have been infected, and 17
million have died in Africa. Although there is yet no cure,
antiretroviral drugs can now turn a certain death sentence for
millions into years of productive life. According to Africa Action
President, Wyatt Tee Walker, "The failure to prevent such deaths,
when the means are available, will increasingly be recognized for
what it is, the equivalent of mass murder." According to Africa
Action, AIDS is more than a disease, it is a manifestation of a
Global Apartheid whereby access to the full spectrum of Human
Rights, including access to healthcare, is largely determined by
race, gender and class.
Addressing a protest in front of the White House, Booker said, "The
White House doesn't care about the Black Death! AIDS is the black
plague, its epicenter is Africa, the region with the next highest
infection rate is the Caribbean, and here in the U.S. the region
ranked third infection rates are increasing mainly among people of
color. Though AIDS knows no borders and does not discriminate by
race, at present it is mainly killing black people. And that is the cruel
truth of why the White House is unwilling to respond with the needed
resources." Booker added, "Tomorrow's headlines ought to read:
President Bush to Africa: Drop Dead!'" Africa Action, the oldest
advocacy organization in the US concerned with African affairs, will
launch a campaign for "Africa's Right to Health" during the U.N.
General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in late June aimed
at changing U.S. policies.
Africa Action advocates the following:
o African countries must be freed of the burden of foreign debt so
that they can allocate more of their own resources on healthcare.
Presently most African countries spend more on repaying "debts" to
rich countries than on healthcare for their own citizens;
o Countries must also be free to exercise their full rights to obtain
essential drugs at the lowest-possible cost, including the use of
generic manufacturing and imports.
o Major increases in funding are also essential. Cost estimates vary
for the different components of a full-scale response to the global
health emergency. Treatment for the estimated 2.4 million Africans
infected with HIV who could benefit from antiretroviral treatment,
according to one recent estimate, would cost approximately $2.7
billion a year. UNAIDS estimates at least $3 billion a year for
needed prevention efforts in Africa. Add in treatment of related
diseases, necessary health infrastructure development, and costs
in other developing regions such as India and China where the
pandemic is beginning to spread more rapidly, and the total required
easily falls in the $15 billion to $20 billion a year range. United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for a global fund
of a more modest amount of $7 to $10 billion a year to support a
broad developing world campaign against the AIDS pandemic.
Even the highest figure, however, is less than one penny out of each
ten dollars of the gross national product of the world's rich countries.
It is a small price to pay to save millions of lives. It is a also a
prudent investment, because failing to pay that price will result in
untold human suffering and profound economic collapse that will
ultimately require even greater expense. The $200 million
announced by President Bush is equal to the price for one F-22
fighter jet, and less than 1% of the proposed $1.35 trillion tax cut that
will mostly benefit the richest 1% of Americans. Africa Action
proposes that the U.S. set aside 5% of the budget surplus each year
to help finance global public health efforts such as the proposed
AIDS initiative. Booker stated that, "Such an approach would send
a signal that the U.S. shares a sense of global responsibility rather
than regarding globalization only as an opportunity for corporate
profit."
He added that, "Africa Action believes that the real question is how
much inequality are we prepared to accept in the world today?"
for more information visit our website: http://www.africapolicy.org
***
This message from Africa Action is distributed through the
Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA).
Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 23, Safeco Center, E Main and 23rd, Seattle
7:00 PM WASAN business meeting, elections
8:00 PM Program: Dr. Steven Gloyd, Director, UW Int'l Public Health Program, speaking on "AIDS in Africa: the New Apartheid?".
We usually meet the last Wednesday of the month. To post a message: [log in to unmask] To subscribe sending a blank message to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a blank message to [log in to unmask] For complete information on the Washington State Africa Network visit: www.ibike.org/africamatters
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