E-drug: ACT UP Demands Essential Medicines for All
---------------------------------------------
ACT UP PHILADELPHIA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 1999
U.S. Trade Representative Barshefsky Gets Bon Voyage to WTO:
BREAKING NEWS: AIDS ACTIVISTS OCCUPY CLINTON'S TRADE
REPS' OFFICE
ACTIVISTS, BANNERS CHAINED INSIDE OFFICE AND 2ND FLOOR
OUTDOOR BALCONY
AIDS Activists Take Over Office; Demand Medicine for Every Nation
(Washington DC) United States Trade Representative Charlene
Barshefsky received a surprise this morning when AIDS activists from
ACT UP and other groups stormed and occupied her office on the
second floor of the USTR building. Another five climbers chained
themselves to her balcony with a large banner demanding "Essential
Medication for all Nations." The demonstrators threw dollar bills
featuring Barshefky's image, and empty pill bottles symbolizing the
effect of USTR bullying of nations hard hit by HIV/AIDS.
Ambassador Barshefsky, a Clinton cabinet appointee and chief trade
negotiator for the US Government, will represent the US at the
upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial in Seattle (Nov.
27-Dec. 3).
Sources state that the USTR plans to lead opposition against
proposals from developing countries to increase access to "essential
medicines" during TRIPs agreement talks in Seattle, according to a
leaked report from behind-the-scenes "Green Room" negotiations with
the WTO Director General in Geneva. TRIPs is the WTO agreement on
intellectual property, including pharmaceuticals.
"Ambassador Barshefsky uses threats of trade sanctions to force poor
nations to abandon public health interventions that save millions of
lives," stated ACT UP's Paul Davis. "Now she and Clinton intend to
use the WTO negotiations in Seattle to win an even bigger
sledgehammer to crush the reasonable practices of nations seeking to
save lives by providing life-saving medicines."
The WTO Ministerial issues a declaration which forms the basis for
upcoming years of WTO negotiations. A number of countries led by
Venezuela and Kenya are submitting revisions to the Ministerial
Declaration. These countries seek to exempt the World Health
Organization's list of essential medicines from the patent system for
"developing [and] least developed trading partners."
[www.iatp.org/trade/library/admin/uploadedfiles/Second_Draft_of_WTO
_Chairmans_Ministerial_Text.htm]
Activists demanding an end to US policy impeding access to
life-saving medicines have been targeting Barshefsky and Vice
President Gore. Today's office takeover comes on the heels of a 750
person demonstration at the USTR office on October 6. Activists
targeted candidate Gore for his role as chair of the US/South Africa
Bi-National Commission until he agreed to remove US obstructions to
South Africa's Medicines Act. The 1997 Medicines Act permits local
manufacture of generic versions of patented medicines. Barshefsky
announced Gore's capitulation on September 17 [announcement:
http://www.ustr.gov/releases/1999/09/99-76.html\].
Barshefsky routinely levies sanctions and other punishments against
poor countries' efforts to provide access to "essential medication"
even though they do so within the legal framework of TRIPs. The
office of the USTR, often at the request of pharmaceutical interests
filing complaints, has 46 current actions against poor countries for
using internationally accepted and WTO compliant measures such as
compulsory licensing and parallel importing to save lives [report:
http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/country/allcountries.html\].
Background:
Compulsory licensing is when a country issues a permit for
manufacturing a generic version of a patented product, paying a
royalty to the patent holder. Parallel importing is the process of
shopping around the globe for the best price for a patented product.
The United States routinely issues compulsory licenses, and most
Western European nations frequently use parallel importing for
medicines [extended info: www.cptech.org]. "Green Room"
negotiations are closed-door WTO 'arguments,' where member nations
are excluded on an emergency basis to settle disputes. Nations
seeking patent exemptions for certain pharmaceuticals were not part
of recent negotiations. "Essential medicines," in this case, refers to
the World Health Organizations regularly updated "Model List of
Essential Drugs" [www.who.int/dmp/Model List/edl-10.htm]
Activists vow to return to Washington November 30 for a large
protest at the White House on the eve of World AIDS Day. Dozens of
arrests are expected. "This is what the US has to offer to 90% of the
people with HIV globally this World AIDS Day -- shameful policies
from a trade superpower that guarantee the deaths of millions
worldwide," concludes ACT UP member John H. Bell.
"This office takeover is a calling card. We are giving Barshefsky a
send off to the humiliation she's going to face in Seattle in a few
weeks," said Susan Whitaker of ACT UP Philadelphia. "She values
pharmaceutical company profits more than millions of human lives.
We demand that she support the proposals of countries like Venezuela
and Kenya, rather than oppose them."
ACT UP Demands:
* USTR and other relevant departments must cease all actions
interfering with efforts by poor countries to increase access to
essential medicines. The announced terms of Vice President Gore's
arrangement with South Africa must become US global trade policy;
* USTR must support, rather than oppose, the campaign of poor
nations, including Venezuela, Kenya, and Pakistan, to revise the Trade
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement to exempt
essential medicines from the patent system.
Paul Davis
ACT UP Philadelphia
e-mail: pdavis@CritPath.Org
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