---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 17:41:47 -0800
From: Charlotte Utting <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [wa-afr] FW: ACTION: Alert on AIDS drugs
IMPORTAMT! please read and act!
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From: [log in to unmask]
Organization: Africa Policy Information Center
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 15:43:17 -0500
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ACTION: Alert on AIDS drugs
ADNA Action: 012601
Message from: Washington Office on Africa
For contact information see also:
http://www.africapolicy.org/adna
Dear ADNA members,
Following find the urgent action alert from the Washington Office on
Africa regarding the Bush threat to African nations ability to access
low-cost AIDS drugs. Please share this widely and quickly.
Regards,
Vicki Ferguson
ADNA Communications Facilitator
Date sent: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 08:30:56 -0500
From: Leon Spencer <[log in to unmask]>
Send reply to: [log in to unmask]
Organization: Washington Office on Africa
Subject: Action alert on exec order
The Washington Office on Africa:
An Urgent Action Alert
January 2001
Affordable medicines to confront HIV/AIDS in Africa:
President Bush's plans to rescind executive order
President Bush, after only three days in office, is reportedly
considering reversing the President Clinton's executive order
preventing the US from retaliating against African nations that seek
to draw upon entirely legal provisions within the World Trade
Organization to secure affordable medicines for the treatment of
HIV/AIDS. The pharmaceutical industry, one of his largest
corporate contributors, has aggressively sought to prevent African
nations from using compulsory licensing and parallel imports to
obtain these medicines cheaply.
Compulsory licensing involves authorizing a government or company
to make and sell a product (such as a drug) without the permission
of the patent holder. Licenses are generally issued on the basis of
public interest, in this case, the health of an immense population.
The practice is entirely legal under World Trade Organization rules.
Parallel imports involve a nation's "shopping around" for the best
prices for a particular drug, as prices of the same drug may vary
tremendously from nation to nation.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) had
secured an amendment to the African Growth and Opportunity Act,
passed in the last Congress, that said, in short, that if an African
nation took steps legal under the WTO to secure affordable
medicines, the US could not retaliate against them, as it sought to do
against South Africa several years ago. Under pressure from
pharmaceutical corporations, the amendment was removed from the
bill. President Clinton immediately issued the amendment as an
executive order.
Discerning our actions: What we at WOA think
Our key points are these:
1. The nations of Africa should not be impeded from responding to
this emergency by a Western response that treats health care as an
economic commodity rather than a right.
2. The US government has been an aggressive opponent of the use
of compulsory licensing of patents on medicines by developing
countries. It does not accept the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights [TRIPS] of the WTO as
appropriate for African action on HIV/AIDS drugs. It seeks much
higher levels of protection - so called "TRIPS plus" levels of
protection. This stance is itself a seeming violation of WTO rules,
for article 1 of TRIPS says that "members shall not be obliged to
implement in their law more extensive protection than is required by
this Agreement. Members shall be free to determine the appropriate
method of implementing the provisions of this Agreement within their
own legal system practice."
3. Drug companies argue that compulsory licensing will reduce the
pharmaceutical companies' incentives to do research and
development, but much of this research has been funded by the US
government, and Africa only accounts for about 1.3 percent of the
worldwide pharmaceutical market anyway.
Actions
We urge that you write to the President at once, urging that he
retain the executive order of his predecessor, thus demonstrating
sensitivity to the African struggle to address the tragic AIDS
pandemic across the continent and respecting the rights of African
nations to have recourse to compulsory licensing and parallel
imports as a means to secure affordable medications. Note to him
that this is not a concession or special benefit to Africa. Rather it is
a commitment by the US to respect international trade provisions to
which it is a party.
We also suggest that you copy the letter to your Senators and
member of Congress, making sure that it is clear from the copy that
you are a constituent.
Write to President George W. Bush at the White House,
Washington, DC 20500 or call 202-456-1111.
Write to Senators at the US Senate, Washington, DC 20510, and to
Members of Congress at the US House of Representatives,
Washington, DC 20515.
Thank you for joining with us in this effort.
The Washington Office on Africa recognizes that it works in
partnership with sponsoring organizations and with others committed
to a just American policy toward Africa. Toward that end, our action
alerts are designed not only to share with you information about a
given situation and the action we believe may be wise, but also to
encourage your own process of study and reflection so that you
may enter more fully into actions that honor your own integrity and
priorities.
For further information call us at WOA at 202/547-7503, or write to
us at 212 East Capitol Street, Washington, DC 20003. Our e-mail
address is [log in to unmask], and you might also consult our website,
www.woaafrica.org.
***
This message from the Washington Office on Africa is distributed
through the Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA)
Vicki Lynn Ferguson
Advocacy Network for Africa
Communications Facilitator
c/o Africa Policy Information Center
110 Maryland Ave, NE #509
Washington, DC 20002
Ph: 202-546-7961
Fax: 202-546-1545
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna
Our next meeting is Wednesday, Jan 31, Garfield Comm Ctr, E Cherry and 23rd, Seattle
7:00 PM WSAN business meeting
8:00 PM Program: Pan-African and International Conference for the Cancellation of the African
and Third World Debt/Jubilee South
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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