Re: Public Meeting on Right to Affordable Medicines

[Guest guest]

Dear Tripti,

We are glad to note that a public Meeting on Right to Affordable Medicines is

being organised by Lawyers collective.

However, the message was recieved only on May 1st and it might not be possible

for anybody outside Delhi to attend this meeting if they recieve the invitation

the

same day of the meeting. We would have appreciated an earlier information about

this important meeting.

Have you invited any organisation of people living with HIV for this meeting? If

yes

tell me what are thier names? Do you think PLWA are not part of civil society?

And

who will be the consumer of these drugs?

Please also let us know whether any drug company has sponsored this meeting

or what and what was the out come of the meetig?

A honest (Not political) reply will be appreciated.

Ashok Pillai

President,INP+

************************************************************

Indian Network for People living with HIV/AIDS (INP+)

Flat No.6, Kash Towers

93 South West Boag Road

T.Nagar

Chennai - 600 017

Phone:+91-44-4329580 & 4329581

Fax:+91-44-4329582

E-Mail:inpplus@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Tripti,

Reg. your mail Meeting on the Right to Affordable Medicines,

in New Delhi I am indeed supprised at your suggestion of

meeting in Delhi on the same day of your invitation.

Kindly explain.

Regards

Ashok Rau

Freedom Foundation (Hiv/Aids Care and Support Units)

Email:freedom@...

[Guest guest]

[Moderator's note at the end of the message]

Dear Ashok,

This is in response to your message about our invitation to the Public

Meeting on the Right to Affordable Medicines held in Delhi on 1st May . You

have asked a few questions in your posting to the list, honest

answers to which we feel should be given on the list itself. We wish you had

clarified your concerns to us first before expressing them on the

list. However to clear any misunderstandings or misconceptions we state as

follows.

It would be necessary to explain what the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit

is planning on the issue of Right to Affordable Medicines. This is an issue

which has ramifications in law and policy (especially in light of TRIPS) and

is a complex one that needs to be understood and explained.

As a lawyers group we feel that we have the capacity to explain the

intricacies of patent laws and their impact on affordable medicines.

Also, we feel that fundamental awareness of the impact of TRIPS

needs to be created so that people realise the gravity of the situation

and mobilise themselves against such harmful laws/policies.

The Unit, therefore, plans to hold city meetings throughout the country

in order to create public opinion, a forum for debate and a widespread

grass roots effort against TRIPS. The Delhi meeting was one

such and the second in a series which began in Mumbai 10 days ago.

The idea is to organise similar meetings in different cities and to unite PLWA

groups, NGOs and the general public to take the issue forward. Therefore,

the meeting in Delhi was meant as a CITY meeting. We hope to interact with

many more persons in your and other cities through the year.

Regarding the involvement of PLWA at this meeting, we would like to state

that in our view the issue of Access to Medicine is one which affects all of

us but primarily PLWA in the HIV/AIDS context. We visualise that if the

meetings succeed in creating public opinion then a campaign will emerge

whose ownership MUST lie, not with us, but with PLWA groups.

We not only invited PLWA to the Delhi meeting but were extremely pleased

to see that they attended it and showed interest in actively pursuing a

follow-up strategy to the meeting. However, it would be highly inappropriate

of us to divulge their names -- that question does not arise.

Suffice it to say that they came in good numbers.

It is important to note that at the meeting organised in Mumbai ONLY PLWA

were invited and attended. Prior to the Mumbai meeting the Unit also

conducted a presentation of this issue to several PLWA at the request of

MNP+ in their premises. Not only does the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit

consider PLWA as part of civil society, but believes that PLWA are at the

core of the issue on Access to Affordable Medicines.

Lastly, it would be wholly false to believe that a drug company has

sponsered the meeting. It is important that such doubts be set at rest in no

uncertain terms. The Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit has always believed

that its main service lies to PLWA and tries to provide these services to

the best of its abilities. It has always maintained an arms-length approach

with drug corporations. It is an organisation that is proud of its

independent, open and forthright approach. It is not influenced by the whims

and/or agenda of others, whether large corporations or otherwise. It

certainly does not rely on o pr get funds from such sources. The Delhi

meeting (and others in the future) was organised by the Unit through its own

resources in a simple, modest yet effective way.

We hope this puts your doubts at rest.

Regards,

Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit

E-mail: <aidslaw1@...>

______________________

Moderators note: Interested to note that even an organization " that is proud

of

its independent, open and forthright approach " is not keen to see an open

discussion on kesy issues on the internet- eFORUM?

How else would you explain your demand to clarifiy Ashok's concerns to you

first, before expressing them on the eForum? Thank you

[Guest guest]

Dear Lawyers Collective & my fellow Indians,

Though I clarified to Mr.Vivek Diwan, who called me yesterday about the reasons

of my posting. But yet when I see the clarification now, which is actually not

sufficient.

Fight for treatment cannot be achieved by conducting meetings in isolation, and

the

stakeholders are not just PLWA or NGOs. I feel people from commerce and health

ministry should be invited otherwise whatever you discuss in the meeting can

remain within the people who has attended the meeting. And we are fortunate to

have Mr.Ramasundram, IAS in commerce ministry who was earlier with Tamilnadu

State AIDS Control Society as a Project Director and World Bank as consultant.

I fully understand that it is a step by step process and you have planned to do

so in

the time to come but the key stake holders should be kept in confidence.

Why I raised the question about the drug companies sponsoring the meeting was

not about the direct funding, but the indirect funding through organisations

which

are funded by Pharmaceuticals. INP+ has identified few such organisation and

will

be making the decisions shortly whether to work with these organisation or not .

The 'AIDS scenario' has opened our eyes and the lessons that INP+ has learned is

not to trust anybody with the token-fake- supportive gestures, of

people/organisations but trust only the good deeds done by them.

I have seen personally people showing compassion in Public Meetings but using

the first opportunity available to stab people living with HIV in their back.

But the

PWA community has waked up now and I think it is high time for everyone to

understand that though they can ignore the people living with HIV now at the

cost

of failing the prevention programs like fifteen years ago they ignored and now

they

talk about creating enabling environment. But creating enabling environment in

the

absence of Care and Support which includes access to treatment?

Already fear based messages coupled with morality based advices have created

lots of stigma and discrimination for AIDS, and people living with HIV had no

support from federal/ National government from 1986 till 1997. And after

formation of INP+ in Feb 1997, the state government of Tamilnadu through

TNSACS (Tamilnadu state AIDS control Society) supported us, even though we

were a new organisation. In the study done by INP+ in 1999 in four cities it was

revealed that most of the discrimination comes from Health care workers.

Today government can say that they are supporting our maharashtra, Karnataka ,

Kerala & Tamilnadu partner networks but the INP+, the organisation which was

influential in forming these organisation has never supported by federal

government. But our partners networks in Goa, Andhara & Manipur have still not

got the funding from the government.

When we look to to countries like Australia, I see that virtually every program

has been supported by government. When I see US where CDC has implemented

National Testing Day through National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA),

you cannot think of doing it same here in India, because despite the fact that

out of

95% of 3.7 millions (official figures.actual figures are unknown) do not know

their

status, the government has no programs to bring people living with HIV into the

main stream prevention.

If people who can pass on the infection to others are not encourage today to

take

a test, how can we ensure that prevention will work? Unless we bring the

existing

tested people and those who are not tested but might be living with HIV, into

the

main stream prevention how we can rest assured that everything is under control!

I urged everybody including government (State & federal included) to think

before we Indians are swept by the epidemic called AIDS.

Jai Hind

Ashok Pillai

E-mail: inpplus@...

P.S:

The views expressed here are purely my personal which is based on my four years

of experience working in INP+.

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

In response to the " Moderator's " note to our message on the list

we state as follows:

Our message seems to have been misunderstood by the " Moderator " . We are

always in favour of open discussion on key issues on the or any

other email list. At the same time it is only fair that if there are certain

doubts about the work and efforts of a fellow organisation, it is better to

clarify the facts inter se rather than have a situation for

misunderstandings and misconceptions to circulate.

On another issue: while respecting the significance of anonymity on an email

list, we feel that comments made on the purported conduct of an organisation

should, at least, be done in one's capacity as a member and in name.

In solidarity.

Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit

E-mail: aidslaw1@...

[Guest guest]

Dear ALL

We were, to say the least, disappointed with this reponse from the

" esteemed " organisation and echo the opinions expressed by the

moderator. The initiative of " series of meetings " is an interesting one

for many reasons; however the self-claim from the initiating organisation

of a certain professional group that it has the capacity to explain to us

all the issues surrounding the drug issue and globalisation to boot really

takes the cake!! Save and spare us all from this pedantry.

We are further regaled with continuing self-justifications and

self-righteous responses in legalese jargon from the organisation. This is

becoming a distasteful exchange and we request that it be stopped

immediately so we can continue to discuss crucial issues, including the

drug one. If this exchange does continue, we would have to seriously

question the real intents of all concerned parties and suggest it be sorted

out immediately AND outside this forum.

D. Roy Laifungbam

CORE manipur

E-mail:<coremanipur@...>