Petition on Poor Country Access to Medicine

[Guest guest]

Action Alert on Access to Medicines for Poor Countries

Stop U.S.-led opposition to African countries' proposal

on WTO patent rules and drug access

Action Steps:

+ Sign petition (info below);

+ Participate in upcoming solemn angry send-off demonstration against US

Trade Czar Zoellick: November 1, 2001 in Washington DC-- one week

before the WTO Ministerial begins;

+ Stop " Fast Track " (H.R. 3005: renewal of the President's " trade promotion

authority " ) from passing in U.S. Congress. Fast Track would grant the

President power to shape and implement trade agreements without

consulting Congress -- and would wreck efforts to win changes to

increase access to medicines in current trade agreements like the Free

Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

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Asia : Health GAP Coalition, ACT UP Philadelphia

asia@..., +1 215 474-9329 tel, +1 215 985-4492 fax

+1 267 475-2645 cell

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While the WTO Ministerial in Qatar (November 9-12) is fast

approaching, U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick insists on

advancing a dangerous position at the meeting on access to medicines.

In spite of policy demands of the WTO's poorest member states, Zoellick

pushes an extremist monopoly agenda that withholds treatment while

protecting big Pharma.

Controversial U.S. policy decisions are slipping by without scrutiny. It

is all the more important for organizations and individuals committed to

the struggle for global access to affordable, life-sustaining AIDS

treatment to take meaningful action.

Background:

Every day 8000 people die from untreated AIDS around the world. Gross

inequity in access to life-extending medications makes HIV a death

sentence in poor countries, while in wealthy countries HIV is a treatable

condition. High monopoly prices are a major barrier preventing widespread

access to desperately needed life extending drugs in poor countries.

Generic competition among HIV drug makers is a key strategy in cutting

AIDS drug prices to levels as close as possible to the marginal cost of

production, and in increasing the chance of widespread, sustainable drug

access in poor countries. This has been proven over and over by public and

private generic drug makers in Brazil, Thailand, India, and elsewhere.

WTO Patent Agreements threaten lives:

Because of a far-reaching WTO patent agreement called TRIPS (the Agreement

on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), strict monopoly

protection on life-extending medications is just around the corner for all

WTO countries, no matter how poor. 20-year patent monopolies on

life-extending drugs create sky-high prices. As TRIPS comes into effect,

this one-size-fits all patent system will intensify an already deadly gap

in access to AIDS drugs between the rich and the poor.

TRIPS contains a few " safeguards, " allowing patent monopolies to be

broken in certain circumstances with a " compulsory license " and patent

exemptions. The United States frequently issues compulsory licenses to

break patents to serve national interests as critical as tow truck

technology. But drug companies have recruited wealthy countries,

especially the U.S., to threaten or institute devastating trade to punish

countries that craft flexible patent laws on pharmaceuticals.

Up against the might of drug companies and the U.S. government, such

safeguards are not enough to win the fight for affordable AIDS treatment.

In newer trade agreements, like the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the

U.S. and Big Pharma are negotiating patent rules that overshoot even the

strict requirements of TRIPS. The U.S. agenda is clear: patent monopolies

are the right prescription for poor countries -- even those most devastated

by AIDS, malaria, and TB.

The Africa Group faces US opposition:

Led by African nations, 52 developing and least developed WTO Member

countries from every part of the globe have drafted a Ministerial

Declaration on health to be put forward at the WTO meeting in Qatar.

The Africa Group declaration includes important policy points, including:

--TRIPS shall not prevent Members from taking measures to protect

public health

--TRIPS does not prevent poor counties from granting a compulsory license

to manufacturers in a different country, to supply the market of the

country initiating the license. This is a key issue for the many poor

countries where important drugs are patent protected lack capacity or

resources to build factories needed for local production;

--WTO members must agree to use " utmost restraint " and resist using WTO

dispute settlement when the dispute relates to measures adopted by poor

countries to protect and promote public health.

(For more, read the full text of the Africa Group's proposed Ministerial

Declaration: www.cptech.org/ip/wto/africagroup09182001.html)

The U.S. is leading a bloc of rich countries in opposition to the poor

country declaration, lobbying instead for a weak Ministerial Declaration

that denies the reforms on monopoly rules on TRIPS and drug access

that poor WTO Member States are demanding. (Read the most recent

text of the U.S. proposed Ministerial Declaration:

www.cptech.org/ip/wto/usdraft09202001.html)

The U.S. and Big Pharma must be prevented from derailing and weakening

the critical efforts of the Africa Group.

What you can do:

1. Sign the Oxfam/Health GAP/Third World Network petition demanding

an end to US-led obstruction in the struggle for drug access. The petition

will be presented to US officials just before the WTO meeting. Sign on now,

electronically, and pass this message along to your colleagues and friends.

To sign, go to www.globaltreatmentaccess.org and link at the top of the page

to the " Health Before Wealth " petition.

2. Join AIDS, human rights, and fair trade activists in a rally targeting

Zoellick, the US Trade Representative on November 1, 2001 in

Washington D.C. Demanding that Zoellick abandon his opposition to

increasing the flexibility of the WTO rules on patent monopolies in poor

countries. NOTE: downtown DC rally location to be announced; rally time is

4:30 PM. Contact ACT UP at +1 215 731-1844 / asia@... for the

latest updates. Also contact ACT UP for information about bus pick-up

locations, scheduling a teach-in about the issue, rally posters and flyers,

and information about how you and/or your organization can help.

3. Stop " Fast Track " : if passed, Fast Track (H.R. 3005) would concentrate

power in hands of the President's Administration in negotiating and

implementing trade agreements -- many of which contain intellectual property

provisions that will directly affect access to affordable medication and

health care. Fast Track would strip Congress of the power to amend

proposed trade agreements -- Congress could only accept or reject them.

The bill is currently likely come up for a vote in the House any time in the

next one to three weeks.

To oppose Fast Track call 1-800-393-1082 and ask to speak with your

member of Congress. When you are connected with that office, ask to speak

with the aide who deals with trade issues. Urge your member to vote against

Fast Track, because it will lead to trade agreements that will do

irreparable harm to people with AIDS and poor people worldwide. For more

information on Fast Track see:

http://www.publiccitizen.org/trade/fasttrack/index.cfm.

Demands:

Health GAP and ACT UP demand that Zoellick:

--Must agree that TRIPS permits the export of medicines from manufacturers

to a country issuing a compulsory license.

--Must agree to exempt life-saving and life extending medicines from the

patent system in poor countries.

--Must agree to extend the transition period for TRIPS compliance for

Least Developed Countries.

--Must stop extracting excessive patent protection on medication from poor

countries, either with threats of bilateral sanctions or through

negotiating multilateral agreements (such as the Free Trade Area of the

Americas)

--Must agree to a moratorium on WTO disputes relating to drug access.

--Must agree that TRIPS does not prohibit the disclosure of pharmaceutical

test data and other essential information necessary to implement

compulsory licensing and other TRIPS-consistent measures.

--Must stop their relentless campaign to push Fast Track through Congress.

For more information contact Health GAP: tel: +1 215 474-9329

fax: +1 215 985-4492

e mail: info@... / www.globaltreatmentaccess.org

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E-mail:pdavis@...

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