# E-DRUG: US State Department meeting on HIV Initiative **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [February 18, 1999, 11:06am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-us-state-department-meeting-on-hiv-initiative/4465 "1999-02-18T11:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dec6dc/32.png) [@love](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/love)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 1999, 11:06am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-us-state-department-meeting-on-hiv-initiative/4465/1 "1999-02-18T11:06:19Z")
E-drug: US State Department meeting on HIV Initiative ---------------------------------------------------------- February 17, 1999 Meeting at the Department of State on the US Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS The US State Department invited CPT to attend at 3:30 to 5:00 pm meeting at the US Department of State to discuss the new "U.S. Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS. Apparently we were invited because we were one of a few groups that filed comments in an earlier public notice on the issue. The meeting was identified as an "industry meeting," and PhRMA, Merck, Eli Lilly, Bristol- Myers Squibb (BMS) and one or two other firms were invited, but so was CPT, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center and a Harvard University program on AIDS (represented by J Norris). I showed up for the meeting, but asked if there had been a mistake, since I do not work for "industry." Apparently there was a mistake, and I was advised that I was not supposed to attend the meeting, but could come back on Thursday to attend an NGO briefing. I asked who else was considered part of the "industry." The AFL-CIO apparently wasn't, and we left together. However, Harvard University said that it considered itself "industry" because of its association with Merck on this issue. The agenda for the industry briefing contained five items: 1. The 1999 US International Response to HIV/AIDS 2. US Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS 3. The role of the pharmaceutical industry in the fight against international HIV/AIDS 4. Automatic patenting for AIDS drugs 5. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) I asked about item 4, "automatic patenting," and was told this was about the March meeting that was being organized (by CPT, HAI and MSF) in Geneva on the topic of compulsory licensing. As one of the organizers of that meeting, I offered to provide some information about the meeting and the topic of compulsory licensing, and we did have a brief discussion before we left. I checked back with State later and found that compulsory licensing was left off the agenda for the NGO meeting. I asked that it be included, particularly since it was on the agenda for the industry meeting. I'll find out tomorrow, and report what happens next. Jamie -- James Love, Consumer Project on Technology P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 202.387.8030; f 202.234.5176 [http://www.cptech.org](http://www.cptech.org), [mailto:love@cptech.org](mailto:love@cptech.org) -- Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'. Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'. For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.