back to home

See also other materials on "Access to life-saving medicines"

July-Oct. 2001:

Of patents and panics: US intellectual property law finely balances competing interests. Hasty wartime amendments would be risky, says Patti Waldmeir...Bayer, the Cipro patent-holder, was condemned for using its patent to keep generic anti-anthrax drugs out of the hands of soon-to-be-sick Americans. The US secretary of health hinted he might abrogate the company's patent rights - and then used that threat to negotiate a sharp price cut. (Patti Waldmeir, Financial Times, 31 Oct. 2001)

Public Health vs Corporate welfare choices for Doha: Months of talks and negotiations over the issues of Public Health and access to medicines, that have been affirmed to be a fundamental human right, the United States and its core supporters have refused to yield and place public health of billions across the world above corporate profits of the pharmaceutical corporations (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 29 Oct. 2001)

No new drugs for 'poor' diseases: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to a report released by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The report, Fatal Imbalance claims, among others, that from 11 companies surveyed, only one new tuberculosis (TB) drug was brought to the market in the last five years. Eight of the 11 companies reported no research activities in the last year for fatal diseases that almost exclusively affect the poor such as sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis while many drugs are being developed for sleeping disorders, impotence and obesity. (Anso Thom, News24 [South Africa], 29 Oct. 2001)

Drug Patent Dispute Poses Trade Threat - Generics Fight Could Derail WTO Accord - Amid its own efforts to obtain cheap supplies of Cipro to fight the anthrax threat, the Bush administration is battling to keep Brazil and other developing countries from securing broad rights to override patents and lower the prices of drugs for treating AIDS and other illnesses. (Paul Blustein, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2001)

A battered Bayer opts out of a fight over its Cipro patent: Rather than suffer a bruising battle for its Cipro patent and risk more damage to its image, the German drug giant will sell the anthrax-fighting antibiotic to the [U.S.] federal government at a drastically reduced price -- 95 cents a tablet, about half earlier offers. The deal came after U.S. officials threatened to override the patent. The outcome underscores the ongoing difficulties facing the pharmaceutical industry as it tries to protect its patents. In poor countries such as Brazil and South Africa, drug makers such as Roche AG and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have been accused of denying treatment to AIDS patients by using patent law to prevent the availability of cheaper generics. The Cipro fight is the first such squabble to involve the United States. The threat to override Bayer's patent, which expires in 2003, appears to contradict the government's own position. At a World Health Organization meeting in Qatar next month, the United States is expected to oppose efforts to produce generic medications in the event of a public-health crisis. (Ed Silverman, Star-Ledger [New Jersey], 25 Oct. 2001)

India caught in drug patent trap: It took the anthrax scare in the United States and an offer of cheap drugs from India to highlight a problem familiar to people in developing countries - the denial of access to affordable drugs because of tough patent laws. "India's thriving drug industry has provided a good example of how drugs can be produced cheaply and profitably for local markets when unburdened by exorbitant licensing fees," said Mira Shiva, an expert on pharmaceutical drugs with the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI).  Ironically, it was the United States that took India to the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement tribunal - and in 1999 it compelled India to begin working on legislation to introduce product patents and allow foreign patent holders exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) in the meantime. (Ranjit Devraj, Asia Times, 25 Oct. 2001) 

Cipro Deal Puts Industry Profits Ahead of Public Health - Consumers Question Pharmaceutical Industry Influence at HHS [U.S. Department of Health & Human Services] and FDA [U.S. Food & Drug Administration]: The German-based Bayer corporation has prevailed upon the Department of Health and Human Services to put its interests before the safety of U.S. citizens in the Cipro deal struck this week by Secretary Tommy Thompson, according to the SPAN Coalition. (Stop Patient Abuse Now [SPAN], 25 Oct. 2001)

International Labour Organization formally joins UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today announced that the International Labour Organization (ILO) has formalized its commitment to fighting the global HIV/AIDS epidemic by becoming a Cosponsor of UNAIDS..."The ILO brings to UNAIDS its understanding and expertise in the world of work. We know the workplace is a key location for HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes," said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS...ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said, "HIV/AIDS affects everyone today but has an especially profound impact on workers and their families, enterprises and employers, and national economies. With the accession of the ILO to UNAIDS, we now add the historic force of tripartism - governments, workers and employers - to the international efforts being undertaken to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS and its impact on the world of work." (UN Wire, 25 Oct. 2001)

• {···español: La Organización Internacional del Trabajo se une oficialmente al ONUSIDA}

• {···français: L'Organisation internationale du Travail se joint officiellement a l'ONUSIDA} 

Bayer set to reduce price of treatment for anthrax: The US government was expected to announce yesterday it had reached a deal with Bayer over the supply of Cipro, which would involve the German group reducing the price of its anthrax treatment. The agreement could help defuse the controversy over the antibiotic which has seen the US government threatening to override Bayer's patent if it did not agree to a substantial price cut, opening a new chapter in the debate about patent protection for important medicines...Campaigners have accused the US and Canadian governments of double standards over Cipro, given their previous defence of patents on Aids drugs in developing countries. (Geoff Dyer and Bettina Wassener, Financial Times, 25 Oct. 2001) 

HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] reaches deal with maker of Cipro on cutting price to government: Federal officials and Bayer Corp. agreed Wednesday on a lower price for the government to stockpile the antibiotic Cipro, the most popular anti-anthrax drug. The pharmaceutical company will sell the government 100 million pills at 95 cents each, a cost of $95 million. That's a savings of $82 million from Bayer's original price of $1.77 a pill...Also Wednesday, Bayer donated 2 million tablets of Cipro to the Postal Service, which has put thousands of workers on the antibiotic as a precaution. Another 2 million will be given to fire fighters, health care workers and police (Laura Meckler, Associated Press, 24 Oct. 2001)

Unlawful Conspiracy Restricted Production of Cipro, Consumers Charge in Suit Filed [in USA] Today Against Bayer Corporation - Bayer Paid Competitors $200mm to Keep Generic Cipro Off the Market; Suit Asks Court to Intercede, Nullify Agreement and Open the Way For Generics to Enter the Market: The Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) project announced today it has gone to court to dislodge an agreement between Bayer, Barr Laboratories, and two other generic drug companies that it says is blocking access to adequate supplies and cheaper, generic versions of Cipro, now the leading antibiotic used to treat Anthrax. Decrying the inadequacy of the arrangement that the federal government just negotiated with Bayer, consumer groups in eleven states – representing over one million consumers - have signed onto the litigation. (Prescription Access Litigation project, 24 Oct. 2001)

Oxfam America calls on U.S. to make anti-anthrax medicine available: Oxfam America is calling on the US to follow the lead of the Canadian government and issue a compulsory license to enable a local US manufacturer to supply Cipro. "The US insistence on protecting Bayer's patents should not be at the expense of people's lives," said Oxfam Senior Policy Advisor Severina Rivera...Oxfam urged the Bush administration to support and not undermine U.S. Secretary of Human Services Tommy Thompson in his intention "to err on the side of caution in making sure people are protected." Thompson announced he is considering asking for legislation that would make it easier to approve generic production of Cipro (ciprofloxacin), which is under patent protection until 2003. This proposal and the immediate importation of generic equivalents from India, for example, would lower the cost to 1/30 of what Bayer charges for Cipro. "This is precisely the kind of policy option the US and every country should have available to it," said Rivera. "However, the US has led the opposition to developing-country attempts to secure these kind of policy options." (Oxfam America, 23 Oct. 2001)

Health minister accuses Bayer of playing games over anthrax drug [Canada]: Health Minister Allan Rock angrily criticized drug giant Bayer AG on Tuesday, accusing the company of playing games with the government over the availability of anti-anthrax medication...Rock said Bayer told his officials last week it could not supply enough of the patented antibiotic Cipro. As a result, Health Canada hastily ordered a generic copy of the drug from Toronto-based Apotex. When Bayer learned about the Apotex contract, it threatened to sue the government for patent infringement, and Health Canada backed down. Bayer now denies ever having said that it couldn't supply the drug...Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition supported Rock's stance: "The issue is access to life-saving medicine. Should protecting public health come before protecting patents? That's the real issue." (Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press, 23 Oct. 2001)

• company website: Bayer (Bayer Group)

Rock [Canadian Health Minister Allan Rock] backs down in drug dispute: Reaches deal with Bayer: Apotex anthrax medication to be put in 'deep freeze' -...a more senior official said Mr. Rock had little choice but to come to terms with Bayer because his department had breached the drug giant's legal patent, potentially threatening the $1-billion a year the pharmaceutical industry invests in Canada. The law allows the government to suspend patents in an emergency, but there are procedures that must be followed, which were not in this case. (Robert Fife, National Post [Canada], 23 Oct. 2001)

Government threatens Bayer patent suspension unless Cipro price are lowered [USA]: [U.S.] Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Tuesday that he is prepared to go to Congress to seek a generic version of an antibiotic used to treat anthrax infection if the manufacturer [Bayer] does not lower its price..."I can assure you we are not going to pay the price they are asking," Thompson said. (Associated Press, in San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Oct. 2001)

Canadian government agrees to buy anti-anthrax drug from patent holder Bayer in an emergency: The Canadian government, working to avoid a patent lawsuit by Bayer, agreed to rely on the pharmaceutical giant to supply the anti-anthrax drug Cipro and only use generic drugs if the company can't deliver. Bayer has provided 200,000 free Cipro tablets for front-line workers and has promised to deliver more for $1.30 per pill within two days of an attack. If the German-based company can't deliver, then Health Canada would be free to use its stockpiled generic drug. (Tom Cohen, Associated Press, in San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Oct. 2001)

Patent abuse: Western governments are guilty of double standards. Having defended the inviolability of pharmaceutical patents in the developing world, they are ready to override them at home as alarm about bioterrorism spreads...The pharmaceutical industry has not always acted with the noblest intentions. Some companies use underhand tactics to monopolise markets after their patents have expired; others have not done enough to make their products affordable in poorer countries. That said, companies must have their patents protected to ensure that money is available to fund research into new treatments. The industry should work with poor countries to reduce prices, with help from the west. But in the developed world the industry's right to a proper return must be respected if research is to continue. (editorial/leader, Financial Times, 22 Oct. 2001)

South Africa Hits Out at Firms on AIDS Drugs: South Africa said on Monday AIDS Drugs were ineffective and produced side effects almost as bad as the disease itself. The African National Congress (ANC) government accused an alliance led by the pharmaceutical industry, and including AIDS activists and churches, of trying to force it into dispensing harmful antiretroviral drugs. "Government is resisting pressure to provide to all and sundry highly toxic drugs that offer no hope of eradicating the virus," ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said in a letter sent to the country's leading Business Day newspaper. (Steven Swindells, Reuters, in San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2001)

• text of letter from ANC spokesperson: Government's caution on AIDS drugs is vindicated: In your list of those opposed to government in last week's editorial on HIV/AIDS, you fail to mention an important member of that united front: the pharmaceutical companies that work to expand the market for antiretrovirals. (letter to editor from Smuts Ngonyama, in Business Day [South Africa], 22 Oct. 2001

• response to that letter from Treatment Action Campaign: Ngonyama's letter gave a false picture: The letter Smuts Ngonyama submitted (October 22), is packed with misinformation. Ngonyama misrepresents the members of the US panel he cites in support of denying people lifesaving treatment, all of whom recommend antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. Ngonyama tries to discredit the Treatment Action Campaign, implying we are in the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry. The TAC has never taken or used money from pharmaceutical firms as, like government, this industry is one of the main barriers to access to treatment. (letter to editor from Zackie Achmat, TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] Chairman, Muizenberg, Cape Town, in Business Day [South Africa], 25 Oct. 2001)

Save patent, risk lives? -...The Bush administration says it has pushed Bayer for extra Cipro supplies, but has refused to override patent laws, which it could arguably do...Washington's hesitancy has other sources. If drug licensing laws are suspended for Cipro, what about big-ticket AIDS drugs? Countries such as Brazil, South Africa and India are challenging American drugmakers, either in court or by open defiance, to permit cheaper copycat drugs. Allowing Cipro generics may embolden these challenges and prompt other groups to protest high drug prices...Our leaders need to set an example of tough-mindedness out of Washington. That means staying on the job and standing up to the powerful drug industry. (editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 Oct. 2001)

The Treatment: Its image under fire, Bayer AG scrambles to meet Cipro demand - ...New York Sen. Charles Schumer questioned whether Bayer could meet soaring demand for the potent anthrax antibiotic and called for government action to allow generic production. Sunday, Senate minority leader Trent Lott predicted the Senate would soon take up debate on whether to strip the patent on Bayer's flagship product...For Bayer, a conservative German drug and chemicals conglomerate, it was a harsh introduction to its new life in the world spotlight...the company moved aggressively to tool up Cipro production at its factories, and officials insist they can meet demand. But the company was far less prepared to deal with the political and public-relations challenges that have arisen in the wake of the attacks. (Vanessa Fuhrmans and Ron Winslow, Wall Street Journal, 22 Oct. 2001)

The Bayer facts:...Worried about bioterrorism, Health Canada has ordered 900,000 generic copies of an anti-anthrax pill from a firm that doesn't hold the patent. The government has bypassed the true patent-holder, on the reasonable-sounding grounds that anthrax is a potential public emergency...If anthrax were the last public policy issue on Earth, it might make sense to smash the pharmacy window and grab the loot. But since we all believe in a future, we must acknowledge that the free world needs a stable system that reliably delivers innovations, medical or otherwise. So we'd best respect property rights. (editorial, The Ottawa Citizen, 20 Oct. 2001)

High Cipro Prices Bring Drug Patent Issue Home [USA]:...Last Spring, pharmaceutical companies suffered a major public relations blow when they appeared to be putting profits before lives in South Africa. Now, Americans have a keen sense of their own vulnerability as they face the prospect of not having access to the drugs they need to protect themselves from a bioterrorist attack. Amid the current climate of panic and patriotism, AIDS activists believe that it would be fitting indeed if today's widespread calls for national unity and international solidarity could help generate the will to provide affordable essential medications for the world's neediest citizens. (Liz Highleyman, AlterNet, 19 Oct. 2001) 

Refusal to break monopoly on Cipro dramatizes health risk of U.S. hard-line on patent protection -- at home and in AIDS-devastated poor countries (Health GAP Coalition, 19 Oct. 2001)

Aids drug cocktails to halve in price [Thailand]: Ingredients will all be made here soon (Anjira Assavanonda, Bangkok Post, 19 Oct. 2001)

Health Minister defends contract for generic antibiotics to treat anthrax [Canada]: Health Minister Allan Rock is refusing to say whether his department violated patent law in ordering a large amount of anti-anthrax medication from a generic drug company. Nor would Rock say whether he will stick with generic drug manufacturer Apotex as a source of supply now that brand manufacturer Bayer says it has ample product to meet Canada's needs. He said he is not in a position to answer those questions and they will be dealt with when his officials meet with Bayer officials next week. (Dennis Bueckert, Canadian Press, 19 Oct. 2001)

Ottawa accused of breaking its own patent law [regarding Canadian Government's decision to override Bayer's patent of anti-anthrax drug by ordering a cheaper generic version]:...The federal government can override a patent in emergency situations. But, an official emergency has not been declared. And, now Bayer is upset it was never even consulted. The German-based pharmaceutical company is even thinking about suing. Another problem for Ottawa is once the exception is made to the patent law, how many more will follow? Public health advocates welcome the renewed debate over patent protection. They say drug companies get too much protection and the patients too little. (Domenic Fazioli, Global Television Montreal, 19 Oct. 2001)

Bayer Seeks Meeting With Canadians: Canada's decision to override a patent on the anti-anthrax drug Cipro angered officials with German drugmaker Bayer AG, who said Friday they were seeking talks with the country's ministry of health. Canadian health officials said Thursday they would order stocks of the antibiotic from a Canadian manufacturer despite Bayer's patent on the antibiotic, which runs out in late 2003. (Guardian [UK], 19 Oct. 2001)

US in talks on anthrax patent: The US government admitted yesterday that it had held discussions with a German drugs company about overriding the patent on its anthrax drug in a move that could throw wide open the debate about the cost of medicines in poor countries. (Geoff Dyer and Khozem Merchant, Financial Times, 18 Oct. 2001)

• Comment on the Attaran/Gillespie-White and PhRMA surveys of patents on Antiretroviral drugs in Africa: The following is a comment on two reports being circulated by the pharmaceutical industry regarding the importance of patents in Africa as a barrier to treatment for AIDS...The assertion in both documents is that patents are not an important barrier for access to antiretroviral drugs in African countries, while poverty and limited public and donor spending on health care are important barriers. These are long time industry talking points...The question is, how important are the patents on these 150 to 172 drugs or combinations of drugs. According AGW and PhRMA, they are not important. According to NGOs working on the access to medicines campaign, they are important barriers. (Consumer Project on Technology, Essential Action, Oxfam, Treatment Access Campaign & Health Gap, 16 Oct. 2001)

• Do Patents for Antiretroviral Drugs Constrain Access to AIDS Treatment in Africa? (Amir Attaran & Lee Gillespie-White, Journal of the American Medical Association, 17 Oct. 2001)

• Facts and Figures on Patenting and Access in Africa (PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], 30 Sep. 2001)

• Campaigners want new drug-patent rules eased for poor areas: Blame for the absence of medicines to keep millions suffering from HIV/Aids in Africa alive should fall on the international community, which has failed to provide enough money to tackle the epidemic, according to controversial new research. The report, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, says that the patents through which the drug companies' high prices are enforced do not, in fact, exist in much of Africa. But these findings were denounced by groups campaigning to get medicines to the developing world; they say the data is being used to try to get pharmaceutical companies off the hook. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 17 Oct. 2001)

• Campaigners attack drug companies on Aids patents: Health campaigners have accused the pharmaceutical industry of trying to sabotage attempts by developing countries to relax patent rules in the World Trade Organisation by using new research to demonstrate that patents are not blocking access to cheap Aids and other drugs in Africa. (James Lamont & Frances Williams, Financial Times, 17 Oct. 2001) 

• Patents Not Sole Cause of Africa's HIV-Drug Dearth: Drug patents held by pharmaceutical countries are not primarily to blame for the dearth of drugs available to treat the 25 million people infected with AIDS in African countries, two policy experts report. (Melissa Schorr, Reuters, 17 Oct. 2001) 

Clinton urges end to global inequalities after war: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said yesterday the United States and its allies had to win the war against terrorism but in the long run the West also had to bring an end to global inequalities...He said global inequalities fuelled violence and the United States and other wealthy countries had to do more to combat poverty, AIDS and environmental issues such as global warming. (Reuters, 16 Oct. 2001)

WTO Rules Block Cheaper HIV/Aids Imports [Kenya]: The National Aids Control Council of Kenya has said the government is having difficulty buying cheap HIV/AIDS drugs despite the government passing legislation in June to allow low-cost importation in June, the 'Daily Nation' reported on Wednesday. Deputy Director of NACC, Dr Patrick Oregi, was quoted as saying that some rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were hindering the importation of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat the disease. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 12 Oct. 2001)

Union takes Anglo to task [South Africa]: The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) this week threatened strike action if the Anglo American corporation does not reverse its policy against providing anti-retroviral drugs to its workers. The multinational corporation earlier this year made headline-grabbing news when it announced that it would provide anti-retroviral treatment for its HIV-positive workers. Now the union says Anglo American is reneging on its promise. The corporation is denying that it made any promise either unconditionally or by implication. (Glenda Daniels, Weekly Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 12 Oct. 2001) 

• company website: AIDS/HIV - FAQ: Anglo American

Anglo American Called Racist After AIDS Drug "Betrayal": Mining giant could face South African strike over anti-retrovirals - Mining giant Anglo American stands accused of reneging on a commitment to make anti-retroviral drugs available to all its South African workers. Instead, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says, Anglo now plans to give preferential treatment to "senior employees" - apparently because the company thinks that providing anti-retrovirals throughout its workforce would be too expensive. The NUM finds this policy "inherently racist and discriminatory, with beneficiaries of the scheme being, in the main, white workers and the black elite. The foot soldiers who generate wealth in the bowels of the earth are excluded." (ICEM [International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions], 11 Oct. 2001)

• company website: AIDS/HIV - FAQ: Anglo American

New resolve to fight AIDS in Asia: Ministers from more than 30 nations in the Asia Pacific region committed themselves Wednesday to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as a major regional conference wound up in Melbourne...Australia would also, if asked, "provide support to Asia-Pacific governments to draft legislation to facilitate cost-effective access to essential HIV/AIDS drugs," he [Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer] said. However, Downer repeated Australia's determination that international trade agreements be adhered to on patents for HIV/AIDS treatment drugs... In a manifesto also delivered Wednesday, the Congress called on drug companies to put people before "patent rights and private profits," and for communities to oppose all forms of discrimination of those infected with HIV/AIDS. (Times of India, 11 Oct. 2001)

Report shows near empty pipeline of drugs for diseases of the world's poor: Virtually no new drugs are being developed for diseases that predominantly affect the poor, according to "Fatal Imbalance", a report issued today by the international medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). (Médecins Sans Frontières, 9 Oct. 2001)

• full report: Fatal Imbalance: The Crisis in Research and Development for Drugs for Neglected Diseases (Médecins Sans Frontières, 9 Oct. 2001)

HEALTH: Profit Alone Motivates Drug Companies, Say Health Activists - A report released Tuesday by the humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) says almost no new drugs are being developed for diseases that primarily affect the world's poor populations. The MSF report, titled "Fatal Imbalance: The Crisis in Research and Development for Drugs for Neglected Diseases", states that in the last five years the world's 11 leading pharmaceutical corporations have placed just one tuberculosis medication on the market...Eight of these 11 companies "have conducted no research in the last year for fatal diseases that almost exclusively affect the poor: sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis," according to the Paris-based MSF, 1999 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 9 Oct. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Australia Says Pandemic Threatens To Mire Asia-Pacific In Poverty - The HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens to undo years of economic and social development in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told health ministers and government representatives from 35 countries today in Melbourne at the 6th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. (UN Wire, 9 Oct. 2001)

Generic AIDS Drug in South Africa: Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC has granted a generic drug manufacturer a license to produce and market three key AIDS medicines in South Africa, a Glaxo official told The Associated Press Sunday. Under the deal, to be officially announced Monday, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare will be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official said on condition of anonymity...Before the agreement with Aspen, Glaxo was already offering its AIDS drugs to South Africa's public health system at cost for about $2 a day for Combivir, a combination of 3TC and AZT. However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that even at that price providing the AIDS drugs through the public health system would bankrupt the health department. (Ravi Nessman, Associated Press, 7 Oct. 2001)

Sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) (5-10 Oct. 2001, Melbourne, Australia):

• Power, Politics, People: Drugs for All! The chants: “Drugs for all!” “People before Profits”. The posters: “WTO: Bad for your health”, “TRIPS turn life to death”, “Can’t afford ARV treatment”, “Compassionate Commerce: We need drugs! We need them now.” A vocal and colourful march erupted Sunday afternoon in the midst of the ICAAP conference. (Sixth ICAAP, 8 Oct. 2001)

• Treatment and Care: Access is the Issue - Access to available HIV/AIDS therapy, particularly for women and children, will be a dominant theme at the Treatment and Care sessions of the Sixth ICAAP, says Dr Greg Dore, the Theme Chair for Treatment and Care at the conference. (Sixth ICAAP, 3 Sep. 2001)

Roche Laments AIDS Drug Delivery: With AIDS drug prices slashed for the poorest countries, the problem now is how to get the vital medicine delivered to people with the disease, the head of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Friday. "We need infrastructure, training ... political will and commitment," Roche chief executive Franz Humer told Dow Jones Newswires...Large drug companies are not the only members of the private sector expected to play their part, he said. "Major employers in afflicted countries should also allocate resources to promote prevention," Humer said. (Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2001)

More Attention Urged for AIDS in Asia: Delegates at an AIDS conference warned governments in Asia and the Pacific on Friday that they can no longer ignore an epidemic that has infected 6.4 million people in the region and is spreading quickly. Activists also called on drug companies to put people before profit in the fight against AIDS. Drug manufacturers have come under increasing pressure to lower their prices for poorer countries. (Emma Tinkler, Associated Press, 5 Oct. 2001)

Joint communiqué from Secretary-General [UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan] and seven leading research-based pharmaceutical companies on access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment: Today's meeting reviewed the extent to which people of least developed countries, particularly countries of sub-Saharan Africa, are able to access the HIV care that they need, and ways to increase this access rapidly...The Secretary-General, CEOs and United Nations officials agreed that prices of medicines and diagnostics are an important component of efforts to increase access to care, but -- on their own -- reduced prices are not sufficient to catalyse the scaling up that is needed. (United Nations, 4 Oct. 2001)

New report sounds alarm over AIDS in Asia: Cautions AIDS Will Spread Unless Rapid Action Rapidly Stepped Up; Warns Some Countries on Brink of Potentially Explosive Epidemics (UNAIDS, 4 Oct. 2001)

• {···español} Un nuevo informe hace sonar la alarma sobre el SIDA en Asia
• {···français} Le SIDA en Asie: Un nouveau rapport sonne l'alarme

WTO must not block access to medical treatment -...The following are extracts from a statement by the Health Gap International and ACT UP from the United States, and from an open letter to the WTO by about 40 NGOs from around the globe. (South Bulletin no. 22, South Centre, Oct. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Global Fund To Start Disbursing Money By Year's End: U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's Global AIDS and Health Fund has amassed nearly $1.5 billion in commitments as the United Nations and its partners finalize technical aspects to ensure the fund is operational by the end of the year...Donors so far include governments, foundations, the corporate sector and individuals. (UN Wire, 26 Sep. 2001)

Paying the Price [the fight for affordable AIDS drugs in Africa] (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 20 Sep. 2001)

• full transcript of "Paying the Price"

Leaders say eased patent accord could hurt AIDS research: Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry warned yesterday that research and development into AIDS drugs could dry up if global trading rules on patents are loosened. The warning was issued as delegates to the World Trade Organization met to discuss whether the body's TRIPS patents and copyright pact should be amended to make it easier for poor countries to get medicines at low cost. (Robert Evans, Reuters, in Boston Globe, 20 Sep. 2001)

Patents 'threat to Aids drugs': The number of Aids drugs under development has fallen by a third since 1998, a trend that could intensify if global patent protection were weakened, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations warned yesterday. (Frances Williams, Financial Times, 20 Sep. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Drug Firms Say Easing Patent Restrictions Could Hurt Research - Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry said yesterday that if global trading rules on patents are loosened, it could negatively impact research and development of AIDS drugs. The warnings came during a Geneva meeting of World Trade Organization delegates, who were discussing whether the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should be amended to make it simpler for developing countries to have access to medicines at low cost. The TRIPS accord places strict conditions on when drug patents can be removed. (UN Wire, 20 Sep. 2001)

TRIPS council session on access to medicines: Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières on TRIPS and affordable medicines - MSF calls upon World Trade Organization (WTO) members to support developing countries' proposal to ensure that the multilateral rules on intellectual property do not harm public health. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Sep. 2001)

Business and Labour Responds to HIV/AIDS in Asia: The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has identified HIV/AIDS as a major threat to enterprise and the workplace. The business community must play a role in implementing sound workplace policies, raising public awareness on HIVAIDS, mobilizing political commitment, and contributing resources to the national response. In this context, a conference on business and labour responses to HIV/AIDS is being held on 18-19 September 2001 in Bangkok. The conference is being organized by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with ESCAP, ILO, UNDCP and UNAIDS, and the Asian Business Coalition on AIDS. (United Nations Information Services, 17 Sep. 2001)

Drugs Remain Unaffordable - Health Minister [South Africa]: Although pharmaceutical companies cut the price of HIV/AIDS medication, South Africa still could not afford to provide the drugs through the public health system, Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 15 Sep. 2001)

Health Minister to Defend Court Challenge [South Africa]: Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would defend legal action instituted by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) aimed at ensuring state provision of the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to pregnant HIV positive women countrywide, Health-e News reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 Sep. 2001)

Doctors Group Helps Spread AIDS Strategy: Doctors Without Borders said today that it was working with Brazil to export the country's successful anti-AIDS program and its locally made AIDS drugs to other developing countries. (Reuters, in New York Times, 13 Sep. 2001) 

HIV/AIDS: Group To Help Export Brazil's Successful Anti-AIDS Program: Medecins Sans Frontieres said yesterday it is working with Brazil to bring the country's domestically produced AIDS drugs and its much lauded anti-AIDS program to other developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. (UN Wire, 13 Sep. 2001)

{português} Brasil exporta tecnologia antiaids para o mundo: Médicos Sem Fronteira vai utilizar conhecimento brasileiro em nações subdesenvolvidas (Nelson Francisco, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 13 setembro 2001)

Nigeria Begins Aids Drug Programme After Delay: After a one week delay from a scheduled 1 September start, Nigerian officials on Friday began an AIDS treatment pilot programme to supply cheap generic antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive citizens, AP reported. Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu was reported as saying that he "would rather have the programme right and the deadline wrong, than vice versa," although he admitted that the generic drugs have not yet been received and the medication administration and tracking system has not been completely developed. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 12 Sep. 2001)

German Company Begins Shipping Free Doses of AIDS Drug: German pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim has finally come up with a way to act on its offer to provide Viramune free of charge to help African countries prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, the 'Wall Street Journal' reported on Friday. Since the company announced its offer last year, it had been "frustrated" that few countries or health programmes came forward to accept the offer. But according to the Journal, a new application process developed by Dublin-based Axios International "addresses several major stumbling blocks that have impeded access to Viramune". (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 10 Sep. 2001)

Nigeria to Launch Africa's First Generic Anti-AIDS Drugs Trials: In what has been considered as a breakthrough on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Nigeria is set to launch the first trial treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, with imported generic antiretroviral drugs, reported AFP on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 8 Sep. 2001)

Global Reporting Initiative Receives Nearly $1 Million from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for HIV Work: Grant Awarded to Develop Corporate HIV/AIDS Reporting Protocol - The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced today that it has received a $950,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a corporate HIV/AIDS reporting protocol. The grant...will fund research and development of a standardized approach for companies to share information on HIV/AIDS policies, practices, and programs. The extractive and itinerant-worker industries of mining, forestry, agriculture and ground transportation will be the initial focus for the project. (Global Reporting Initiative, 7 Sep. 2001)

Programme to Supply AIDS Drugs Delayed: A Nigerian pilot programme that would provide cheap antiretrovirals to people living with HIV/AIDS did not begin on 1 September as planned, Reuters reported last week. Largely seen as the most ambitious generic AIDS treatment programme, the pilot project plans to provide 10,000 adults and 5,000 children with generic copies of antiretroviral drugs. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 5 Sep. 2001)

Patents and Access to Medicines: Oxfam's recent UK Parliamentary briefing on how WTO patent rules are reducing access to medicines in developing countries proposed that the UK government support three measures:

• a substantive review by member states of the health and development impacts of the WTO agreement on intellectual property (TRIPS) 
• a pact among member states not to initiate disputes with developing countries until this review has been completed, and to allow longer transition periods for compliance 
• amendments to the agreement to allow developing countries to retain the right to make or import the cheaper generic medicines they need (Oxfam, Sep. 2001)

HIV positive: Mark Heywood has been involved in the liberation struggle in South Africa all his "conscious" life. Now he has turned his attention to the fight against HIV/AIDS - "TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] is building a network among communities, seeking to transform the South African health service, and campaigning against patent abuse, whereby prices set by drugs companies are too high for most people to afford."  (Mark Heywood, National Secretary of Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, in Oxfam Campaigner, Sep. 2001)

Brazil and Roche agree deal on Aids drug price cut: Brazil has agreed with Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, on a substantial cut in the price of an Aids drug after the government last week said it would override its patent. Roche agreed to the government's demand of a 40 per cent reduction on the price of Nelfinavir as of 2002, José Serra, health minister, said on Friday. (Raymond Colitt, Financial Times, 31 Aug. 2001)

Bringing the pharmaceuticals industry to its senses [letter to the editor]: Sir, Your editorial "Patent nonsense" (August 24) says it would be "a bad precedent" for Brazil to "set aside" Roche's patent. We disagree. This is an important precedent that will bring a myopic industry to its senses. (Phil Bloomer, Director, Cut the Cost Campaign, Oxfam, and Dr Bernard Pecoul, Director, Access to Medicines Campaign, Medecins Sans Frontières, in Financial Times, 30 Aug. 2001)

• Patent nonsense: government attacks on pharmaceuticals companies' patent rights - and campaigners' attempts to demonise them - are not the way forward. The hope of finding new drugs such as a vaccine for Aids depends on the research and the profits that patent laws protect.  (leader/editorial, Financial Times, 24 Aug. 2001)

Department Stalls On Deal for Free Anti-Aids Drug [South Africa]: The government is offering free nevirapine to pregnant HIV-positive women in at least two health facilities in all nine provinces in an attempt to reduce the transmission of HIV to their babies. The government is paying for the drug though Boehringer Ingelheim offered to supply it free more than a year ago. Health Department spokeswoman Ms Jo-Anne Collinge said there had been talks between Boehringer Ingelheim and her department. She expected an agreement soon. (The Sowetan [Johannesburg], 29 Aug. 2001)

Companies Consider Financial Implications of HIV/AIDS: At a conference held in Cape Town on Friday to discuss the financial implications of HIV/AIDS, South Africa's leading mining companies said they were offering treatment packages as an incentive for employees to go for testing. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 27 Aug. 2001)

Africa may skirt patent to get drugs: Lost amid the noisy fighting over access to AIDS drugs in the poor world lies a startling fact: The vast majority of the medicines are not protected by patents in Africa, leaving no legal barrier for most cheap knockoff drugs to enter the markets. A survey now underway of multinational pharmaceutical companies has found that 84 percent of AIDS drugs are not under patent protection in Africa....the survey's findings are likely to give producers and African health ministers more confidence about entering into agreements. (John Donnelly, Boston Globe, 25 Aug. 2001)

Roche Asks for Meeting With Brazil Health Minister: The dispute between the Brazilian government and Roche, the Swiss drug maker, intensified yesterday as the company asked to meet with the country's health minister, who repeated his threat to authorize generic copies of Roche's AIDS medicine Viracept. Roche executives said yesterday that they were surprised to learn that Jose Serra, the Brazilian health minister, planned to break the patent that prevents production of generic versions of Viracept. Roche said the price of Viracept in Brazil had already been reduced to about 50 percent of its cost in the United States, where a patient's annual dosage can cost thousands of dollars. The company said it wanted to continue to negotiate a settlement. But Mr. Serra said yesterday that he believed the company was trying to delay the government from getting its laboratory prepared to make the generic medicine. The government plans to start production of the generic Viracept in January, he said. (Melody Petersen and Jennifer L. Rich, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2001) 

Defiant Brazil gives go-ahead for copies of anti-Aids drug: Brazil has declared that it will allow generic copies of a brand-name anti-Aids drug to be made without the permission of the patent-holder - because the company, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, refused to cut its prices. (Alex Bellos and James Meikle, Guardian [UK], 24 Aug. 2001)

Beijing Admits to HIV-AIDS 'Epidemic': New Cases of Infection Rise 67% Over a Year, Health Ministry Reports - Breaking the Chinese government's general reticence on the subject of AIDS, a senior official openly acknowledged Thursday that China was facing an epidemic that threatened to outpace government efforts to control it. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times Service, in International Herald Tribune, 24 Aug. 2001) 

Brazil, Roche hope to resolve drugs row: The Brazilian government and Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, on Thursday signalled their readiness to seek a negotiated solution to a stand-off over the pricing of Aids drugs. (Raymond Colitt, Adrian Michaels and David Firn, Financial Times, 23 Aug. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Brazil To Break Swiss Company's Drug Patent - Brazil decided yesterday to break the patent on an AIDS drug made by Roche. Months of negotiations broke down when the Swiss pharmaceutical company failed to yield a discount large enough for Brazilian authorities, the New York Times reports. If Brazil issues a compulsory license for the drug, it will mark the first time that a developing country allows generic copies of a patented drug to be produced without permission, possibly encouraging other poor countries facing the HIV/AIDS pandemic to follow suit, the Times reports (UN Wire, 23 Aug. 2001)

Brazil Moves To Make Cheap AIDS Drug: Demands Deep Cut In Price Of Roche Anti-AIDS Drug... Threatens To Break Pharmaceutical's Patent On Medicine....And Produce its Own Low-Cost Version Of The Drug - Brazil's health minister has moved to strip Roche pharmaceutical's patent on the anti-AIDS drug Nelfinavir after negotiations failed to lower the price. (CBS News, 23 Aug. 2001)

Patent laws cause diplomatic uproar: There has been uproar in India this week over a United States decision to grant a patent to an American company for varieties of rice similar to basmati. And in Brazil, the government has announced it intends to break the patent on a vital Aids drug made by a Swiss pharmaceutical company. The two cases illustrate different aspects of the argument about patents that pits developing countries against Western big business. (Barnaby Mason, BBC News, 23 Aug. 2001)

{···português} Governo vai quebrar patente de remédio de combate à Aids da Roche [Brasil] (Diana Fernandes, O Globo [Brasil], 23 agosto 2001)

Doctors Join Suit Against Minister [South Africa]: About 250 doctors, many of whom are employed by the state, have joined the Treatment Action Campaign in its lawsuit against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her provincial health MECs. The campaign, doctors and other health professionals want the court to force the health ministry to provide Nevirapine widely in the public health service to reduce the risk of HIV-positive pregnant women from passing the virus on to their babies. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 22 Aug. 2001)

State Now Says 'No Problem' to AIDS Drug [South Africa]: As the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) prepares to launch its court case aimed at forcing government to supply an antiAIDS drug for pregnant mothers more widely, the health department appears to have accepted the drug company's long-standing offer of free drugs. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 21 Aug. 2001)

Can the Public and Private Sectors Work Together to Improve Health? Partnerships between the public sector and private enterprise can bring wide benefit in terms of improved health, but there must be safeguards to make sure that their prime focus is healthier populations rather than richer companies. This is the conclusion of a series of articles in this month's Bulletin of the World Health Organization which assesses the controversial issue of public–private partnerships for drugs and vaccines. (World Health Organization, 20 Aug. 2001) 

• {···français: La collaboration entre les secteurs public et privé pourrait-elle permettre d'améliorer la santé?}

• full issue of the Bulletin: Special Theme: Public–Private Partnerships for Drugs and Vaccines (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 79, no. 8, Aug. 2001)

Harnessing Trade for Development: World trade rules have been developed by the rich and powerful on the basis of their narrow commercial interests. Rich countries and powerful corporations have captured a disproportionate share of the benefits of trade, leaving developing countries and poor people worse off. Trade rules should be judged on their contribution to poverty reduction, respect for human rights, and environmental sustainability. (Oxfam, 16 Aug. 2001)

Treatment Action Campaign Takes Government to Court On AIDS Drug [South Africa]: The South African AIDS activist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), announced last week that it would take the government to court for denying HIV-positive pregnant women drugs that reduce the risk of transmitting the disease to their babies, Reuters reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 Aug. 2001)

Region [Central America] seeks cheap Aids drugs: Six Central American nations have announced their intention to negotiate lower prices for Aids drugs from major multinational pharmaceutical companies in a bid to permit greater access to life-saving medicines. (Mike Lanchin, BBC News, 12 Aug. 2001)

Brazil - Winning Against AIDS: HIV/AIDS sufferers in Brazil today get the same treatment as HIV/AIDS sufferers in the USA and Europe - the same, free 'triple cocktail' of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, the same clinical care, the same monitoring.  So perhaps it's not surprising that Brazil's HIV/AIDS patients have proved just as capable of taking their medicines on time as Americans or Europeans (the failure rate is exactly the same for Los Angeles and Rio), and that since 1997 the Brazilian government's national HIV/AIDS programme has proved its cost-effectiveness - halving the death rate from AIDS, preventing thousands of new patients being hospitalized, and helping to stabilize the epidemic...Brazil is breaking the virtual price monopoly enjoyed under World Trade Agreements by the major pharmaceuticals companies. They've complained about Brazil's action. But Dr Pinheiro says they have little reason to. "The drug companies say they need to charge high prices in Latin America and Africa to pay for research into new drugs and that if they were to lower their prices to the poorer countries they would lose heavily. In truth the global drugs business is worth US$300 billion and 82% of this market is made up of sales in the USA, Europe and Japan - 82%! So how is it then that we poor countries can cause so much harm to these companies with our share of the market?"  Brazilian Health Minister Jos‚ Serra puts it in a nutshell: "We've put our case to the world and we've fought for it. And what is our case? It is that access to medicines is a basic human right." (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 9 Aug. 2001)

• full transcript of "Brazil: Winning Against AIDS"

World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund respond to [United Nations] Subcommission report on globalization [which contended that the rules of international trade and economic regimes did not show sufficient respect for human rights standards] (United Nations, 8 Aug. 2001)

DRUGS: Study Presented To UN Calls For More Human Rights Focus - International economic agreements, including those covering intellectual property rights, should focus more on the issue of human rights and not bar policies ensuring access to medicine at affordable prices, said a study presented to the UN Subcommission on Human Rights yesterday. (UN Wire, 8 Aug. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Ethiopia Reaches Deal With Firms To Import Cheap Drugs (UN Wire, 8 Aug. 2001)

Rights jurists for sui generis systems on pharmaceutical IPRs [intellectual property rights]: The two jurists, Mr. J.Oloka-Onyango (Uganda) and Ms. Deepika Udagama (Sri Lanka), as UN Special Rapporteurs, have asked WTO member states to come out with a “specific and unequivocal undertaking to the effect that no provision of the agreement prohibits members from taking measures to provide access to medicines at affordable prices, promote public health and nutrition.” They made this recommendation in a progress report to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 7 Aug. 2001)

UN Calls for Special Regime for Medicines: No international agreement should prohibit policies that ensure access to medicine at affordable prices, says a study presented to the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights Tuesday. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 7 Aug. 2001) 

Ethiopians appeal for cheaper Aids drugs: Thousands of Ethiopians, including many children orphaned by Aids, took to the streets on Sunday to appeal to their government to import cheap drugs to combat the Aids epidemic sweeping the country. (Independent Online [South Africa], 5 Aug. 2001)

Caution about HIV drugs 'misplaced': People dying of HIV/Aids in poor developing countries can be safely, effectively and relatively cheaply treated with western drugs according to two papers in the medical journal Lancet this week which categorically dismiss the current negative approach of western politicians and drug companies. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 3 Aug. 2001)

Health Workers Call for AIDS Monitoring: HIV/AIDS activists warn that Kenya does not have the adequate facilities to administer the drug, Nevirapine which is used to curb mother-to-child-transmission of the HIV virus, 'Africa Analysis' reported on Monday....HIV/AIDS activists are calling for private sector support to make HIV-testing more affordable. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 1 Aug. 2001)

Anglo [AngloGold] in the Dark On AIDS Deaths: CEO says HIV positivity is a subterranean syndrome' and not easy to track among miners [South Africa] (Pat Sidley, Business Day [Johannesburg], 1 Aug. 2001)

Nigeria leads African way in Aids treament: Nigeria plans to launch the largest Aids treatment program in Africa using cheap generic drugs on September 1, says a United Nations special envoy. (Independent Online [South Africa], 31 July 2001)

WHO unduly influenced by large pharma companies, complains Nader: The World Health Organisation has permitted a handful of large pharmaceutical companies to exercise undue influence over its polices and programs and intimidate and deter the WHO from exercising leadership on a wide range of trade-related health issues, particularly in the area of access to medicines and in promoting use of generic drugs, noted consumer advocate, Dr. Ralph Nader has complained in a letter to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 29 July 2001)

Gold Fields Counts the Costs of AIDS: Gold Fields has released a report on the extent of the HIV/Aids pandemic among its South African workforce that manages quite literally to count the cost of the killer disease: it affects one in four of its 48000-strong labour complement.  The study reveals a wealth of facts and figures about the disease and also cuts to the quick of the issue for business -- what the effect will be on the bottom line.  (Stewart Bailey, Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 27 July 2001)

US, Swiss take hard-line on TRIPS, Public Health and Doha: The United States and Switzerland have emerged as the two hard- liners in opposing any operative decisions at the Doha Ministerial on TRIPS and Public Health or of any ‘understandings’ or ‘interpretations’ that would enable a member-country to issue compulsory licences under Article 31 of the Agreement, except on the ground of non-use (meaning patent holder not working the patent and not agreeing to license others to produce) and abuse of patent rights. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 26 July 2001)

New Report Debunks Drug Industry Claims About the Cost of New Drug Research and Development [USA]: Second Report Documents Industrys Intense Lobby and Political Contribution Campaign to Keep Prices and Profits High - The pharmaceutical industry spends about one-fifth of what it says it spends on the research and development (R&D) of new drugs, destroying the chief argument it uses against making prescription drugs affordable to middle and low-income seniors, a Public Citizen investigation has found. (Public Citizen, 23 July 2001)

• "Pharmaceutical Industry R&D Costs: Key Findings about the Public Citizen Report," An Ernst and Young Study (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA], 11 Aug. 2001)

• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA] website

New Report Exposes Drug Industrys 625 Washington Lobbyists and Spending Blitz to Keep Prices and Profits High [USA] (Public Citizen, 23 July 2001)

• "Pharmaceutical Industry R&D Costs: Key Findings about the Public Citizen Report," An Ernst and Young Study (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA], 11 Aug. 2001)

• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA] website

{···español} Los poderosos crean un fondo contra el sida de 240.000 millones (El Pais [Madrid], 21 Julio 2001)

Health fund pledges 'inadequate': The world's richest countries on Friday formally launched a new fund to fight Aids, but divisions remained over how it should be administered and health charities said the amount pledged was inadequate (Stephen Fidler and Alan Beattie, Financial Times, 20 July 2001)

Global Health Fund must not be a subsidy for the drug industry: As the G8 announces details of Global Health Fund, access to affordable medicines for the poor must be a priority. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 20 July 2001)

Wealthy Countries Seal the Deal: AIDS Treatment Not Worth the Dollars [regarding the launch of the Global AIDS and Health Trust Fund] (ACT UP Health GAP Coalition, 20 July 2001)

Drugs: US, Europe Battle Over Pricing Rules: Even before the United Nations has reached its goal of $10 billion for Secretary-General Kofi Annan's global HIV/AIDS fund, the United States and Europe are going head to head over how the funds should be spent and, in particular, issues surrounding pharmaceutical drugs. (UN Wire, 20 July 2001)

{···français} Les pays riches lancent un Fonds mondial pour la santé (Le Monde, 20 juillet 2001)

Price of vital TB drugs reduced by as much as 94% through WHO partnership - People suffering from the deadly strains of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) now have access to high quality "second line" drugs at sharply reduced prices and to a system designed to promote the use of the drugs in the most effective manner, thanks to international efforts led by the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières and Harvard Medical School.  Some countries will be able to save as much as 94% of their current spending on the drugs needed to treat MDR-TB.  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was instrumental in the negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry for the second line drugs.  (World Health Organization, 19 July 2001)

• {···français: Diminution de 94 % du prix des médicaments antituberculeux indispensables, grâce au partenariat de l’OMS}

press release: Pfizer: The industry leader in pricing drugs beyond the reach of the poor in developing countries - Oxfam today accuses Pfizer, the world's largest and richest drug company, of moral bankruptcy by pricing life-saving drugs beyond the reach of millions of poor people. (Oxfam GB, 19 July 2001)

• full report: Formula for fairness: patient rights before patent rights [Oxfam Company Briefing Paper on Pfizer] (Oxfam GB, July 2001)

• company response: Pfizer Statement to Oxfam Report; Responses to Oxfam Questions on Access to Medicines in Developing Countries (Pfizer, 19 July 2001)

Gold Fields Counts Cost of AIDS: Gold Fields, the country's second largest gold producer, revealed that the HIV/AIDS epidemic could cost the company more than US $10 an ounce, a year unless it took significant action, 'The Star' newspaper reported on Thursday. Chris Thompson, chief executive, said that intervention programmes supported by government and the industry could halve these projected costs. [South Africa] (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 13 July 2001)

NGOs Air Concerns On Trading System At WTO Symposium (ICTSD Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 10 July 2001)

Like Minded Group Sets Out Positions Before Doha: Trade Ambassadors from the Like Minded Group (LMG) -- a 13 member developing countries coalition -- elaborated their positions on various WTO issues in an interactive dialogue with journalists and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) held on 5 July in Geneva. (ICTSD Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 10 July 2001)

HEALTH: UN Report Sees Green Light for Generic AIDS Drugs - In a direct challenge to the world's pharmaceutical industry, the authors of a new UN report call on developing countries to strengthen their national laws in order to enable local production of cheaper, lifesaving AIDS drugs. Such an option can be pursued legitimately under compulsory licensing, a principle in international commerce that permits countries to "use patents without permission of the patent holder in return for a reasonable royalty on sale," says the Human Development Report 2001, released Tuesday by the UN Development Programme. (Marwaan Macan-Markar, Inter Press Service, 10 July 2001) 

TUBERCULOSIS: WHO, Drug Firms To Provide Low-Cost Drugs: The World Health Organization is teaming with drug makers including Eli Lilly and Co. and Jacobus Pharmaceutical Co. to provide five drugs for treating drug-resistant tuberculosis at slashed prices to poor countries, New Scientist reported yesterday. Months of talks led to an agreement to cut prices by 60% to 90% in poor countries. (UN Wire, 6 July 2001)

Globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights: Progress report submitted by J. Oloka-Onyango and Deepika Udagama (United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 2 July 2001)

SOUTHERN SICKNESS, NORTHERN MEDICINE - Patently wrong: After years of lethargy the international community has declared war on Aids. Following a special session of the UN in June and the G8 summit in July, a fund will be set up by the end of the year. But the agreement being negotiated with the pharmaceutical industry may fail to provide much-needed care for millions in the South. (Philippe Rivière, Le Monde diplomatique, July 2001)