Action alert - CAFTA hurts Fight against AIDS!

[Guest guest]

Please share with contacts -- let me know if you need to know whichlegislators are on the fence. The vote is expected to be Wednesday and itcould be close!GLOBAL AIDS ALLIANCEAction Alert -- July 21, 2005CAFTA Treaty Will Hurt Fight Against AIDS!Urge Your Representative to Vote NO!The Treaty will be voted on as soon as next week!ISSUE: Next Wednesday, July 27, the House is expected to vote on whether toapprove a trade agreement with Central American countries as well as theDominican Republic. A key provision of the treaty helps big pharmaceutical companies and makesit impossible for producers of affordable, generic medication to compete. Lives are at stake, because poor people living in these countries cannotafford the expensive brand-name versions of these and other drugs!The Senate has already approved the treaty (54 to 45). The House ofRepresentatives is expected to vote on this issue next week!TAKE ACTION: It only takes a minute! You do not have to be an expert. Calland fax a letter to your member of the House of Representatives. Call202-224-3121 or toll free 1-866-340-9281. Say where you live and that youare a constituent. Ask to speak to the aide who handles "CAFTA". Explain that you urge the member to vote NO on the treaty because it willhurt people living with AIDS and other medical conditions (see more talkingpoints below). Also fax a letter of concern (sample below) You will find a handy directoryhere:http://takeaction.stopglobalaids.org/directory/index.aspTALKING POINTS:-- I urge a NO vote on CAFTA because the treaty will hurt people who areliving with AIDS and other conditions. The treaty makes it impossible forgeneric drug manufacturers to compete with brand-name companies. The resultwill be many medications will be out of reach of the people who most needthem.-- The extent of HIV infection in Honduras and the Dominican Republic isTHREE TIMES what we have in the US. In Guatemala, HIV prevalence is doublethe US rate. Countries fighting AIDS need all the help they can get, nottrade agreements that tie their hands.-- The Administration claims it has solved this problem with a "side letter"that says the agreement is flexible and access to medicine will not beaffected. But this promise has no legal weight and is not binding. SAMPLE LETTER:I urge a NO vote on DR-CAFTA because the treaty will hurt people who areliving with AIDS and other conditions. The treaty makes it impossible forgeneric drug manufacturers to compete with brand-name companies. The resultwill be many life-saving medications will be out of reach of the people whomost need them.The extent of HIV infection in Honduras and the Dominican Republic is THREETIMES what we have in the US. In Guatemala, HIV prevalence is double the USrate. Countries fighting AIDS need all the help they can get, not tradeagreements that tie their hands.The Administration claims it has solved this problem with a "side letter"that says the agreement is flexible and access to medicine will not beaffected. But this promise has no legal weight and is not binding. Disease epidemics become worse with greater poverty. CAFTA will make povertyworse because it opens the door for dumping of subsidized US agriculturalexports. That will wipe out farmers in the region. It also has inadequateprotections for workers.Please vote NO on DR-CAFTA.BACKGROUND:Generic competition reduces the price of drugs: In poor countries, the priceof AIDS drugs, for example, has fallen more than 98 percent thanks togeneric competition. U.S. CAFTA negotiators demanded that the agreement include expanded monopolyprotections for the big, brand-name pharmaceutical companies. The agreementwould require generic drug makers to redo clinical trials to obtainmarketing approval and postpone using the trial results for brand-namecompany drugs for five years.The prevalence of HIV infection in the Dominican Republic and Honduras isthree times the prevalence found in the US. CAFTA will mean that the275,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in the region will be denied access tonew lifesaving treatments. People in need of new medicines to treat otherillnesses will be similarly impacted.CAFTA is also bad for the fight against poverty. OXFAM America says: "CAFTAis likely to increase inequality and exacerbate poverty in a region that isstill struggling to recover from the devastation of wars, hurricanes anddroughts."Questions? Call 202-296-0260 ext 211============================================= BrydenGlobal AIDS Alliance, Communications Director1225 Connecticut Ave., NW #401Washington, DC 20036202-296-0260 ext 211dbryden@...