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1 Feb. 2002 to present:

2003:

Drug firms accused of forgetting the poor - Health professionals meeting in Kenya yesterday accused large drug companies of abandoning research into "forgotten" diseases, which threaten tens of millions of the world's poor, because they were unprofitable. (AFP, 9 May 2003)

Staff 'bullied' to save on costs [Australia] - Management at Pan Pharmaceuticals bullied workers to skimp on cleaning and use potentially unsafe ingredients, employees have claimed. (Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Herald Sun [Australia], 30 Apr. 2003)

Price of Aids drugs cut by half - GlaxoSmithKline, the biggest manufacturer of Aids drugs in the world, has halved the price of its leading Aids drug in poor countries. The move comes after intense pressure on the pharmaceutical industry from health activists, investors and charities around the world. (BBC News, 28 Apr. 2003)

• Glaxo Will Further Cut Prices of AIDS Drugs to Poor Nations (Reed Abelson, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2003)

Dying for drugs - A hard-hitting investigation into the global power of the world's most profitable business - the pharmaceutical industry...In Africa the team sees how one of the world's biggest drug companies [Pfizer] experimented on children without their parents' knowledge or consent. In Canada they reveal how a drug company [Apotex] attempted to silence a leading academic who had doubts about their drug. In South Korea cameras follow the attempts of desperately ill patients to make a leading drug company [Novartis] sell them the drugs they need to save their lives at an affordable price. And in Honduras the team uncovers the brutal consequences of drug companies' pricing policies. (Channel 4 television [UK], 27 Apr. 2003)

• Nigerians sue Pfizer over test deaths - A group of Nigerian families has sued the drugs giant Pfizer following the deaths of 11 children and injury to others who are said to have taken part in tests of a drug to treat meningitis...The suit alleges that the drug company did not obtain consent and did not explain that the proposed treatment was experimental. (BBC News, 30 Aug. 2001)

• Tussle Over Generic AIDS Drugs - The World Health Organization has produced a list of companies making safe AIDS drugs, a move that could bring down the price of treatment in poor countries. (AP, 21 Mar. 2002)

• Ailing ethics - A clinical trial [by Pfizer in Nigeria] raises disturbing questions about drug companies' activities in Africa (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 20 Jan. 2001)

• The rich world's patents abandon the poor to die - Non-branded Aids drugs would save a generation in developing countries -...The US, influenced by the pharmaceutical lobby, blocked an agreement at the WTO to lift restrictions on exports of cheap generics to countries that cannot produce affordable versions themselves. What is going wrong? What are we and our companies afraid of? (John Sulston, founding director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute who shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2002, in Guardian [UK], 18 Feb. 2003)

• US wrecks cheap drugs deal - Cheney's intervention blocks pact to help poor countries after pharmaceutical firms lobby White House -...Talks at the WTO's Geneva headquarters collapsed last night after the White House ruled out a deal which would have permitted a full range of life-saving drugs to be imported into Africa, Asia and Latin America at cut-price costs. (Larry Elliott and Charlotte Denny, Guardian [UK], 21 Dec. 2002) 

GlaxoSmithKline, seeking a cure for public mistrust - Mallen Baker assesses GSK's most recent social and environmental report. (Mallen Baker, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 23 Apr. 2003)

Drug industry debates duty to society -...To what extent should pharmaceutical companies be accountable for including minorities in their studies of new medicines? What issues should be considered in balancing the enforcement of patents and the availability of life-saving drugs? These questions and more arose at the opening day of a conference examining the "Grand Bargain" between society and the drug industry (Lewis Krauskopf, NorthJersey.com, 22 Apr. 2003)

Merck board approves spinoff of Medco business -...shareholders [at Merck's annual meeting] rejected two proposals that raised moral issues: A Wisconsin-based religious group...said the board should develop "ethical criteria" on extending patents for prescription drugs. The group argued that generic drugs "expand access to needed treatments," and that making small changes to keep a patented drug under protection brings higher costs to consumers and discourages innovation. The board said the company will defend its patents but "will not pursue baseless legal or other remedies designed merely to delay the entry of generic medicines." (Jeffrey Gold, Associated Press, 22 Apr. 2003)

Earth Day Founder Not the Only One to Link Climate Change and Investing - The voices of institutional investors representing public pension funds join those from the insurance industry to advance a business case for addressing climate change...Mr. Hayes [Earth Day founder Denis Hayes] pointed out that precious few companies are following the examples of BP, DuPont, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson, which are recognizing the business case for improving environmental performance and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 22 Apr. 2003)

Investing with an agenda - Calpers' social, corporate activism drawing attention in bear market as some fear its aggressive tactics may cost governments, firms money -...When the AIDS Healthcare Foundation wanted drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC to lower the $438 a person it charges in developing countries for a year's worth of AZT, it turned to an unlikely ally: America's largest pension fund...In its letter to Glaxo...Calpers praised the drug maker for ''established and effective humanitarian programs.'' But Calpers pressed Glaxo to ''immediately and continually evaluate the company's humanitarian efforts in light of a changing environment, including its response to the AIDS epidemic.'' Calpers wants Glaxo's findings to be scrutinized by an independent body like Doctors Without Borders. (Chris Gaither, Boston Globe, 20 Apr. 2003)

New call for cheap Aids drugs - The largest pension fund in the US has called on British drug giant GSK to make access to Aids drugs easier by cutting prices and easing patent controls. (BBC News, 15 Apr. 2003)

• CalPERS asks Glaxo to lower AIDS drug prices (Sacramento Business Journal, 14 Apr. 2003)

• GSK Commends CalPERS for Its Support of the Company's Continuing HIV/AIDS Efforts - The following is a statement from GlaxoSmithKline commending the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) for their interest in and support of the company's efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in developing countries. The statement comes in response to a press release issued by The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). In that press release, AHF describes a letter written by CalPERS to GSK ending months of pressure by AHF to try and force CalPERS to sell its GSK shareholdings. In a unanimous vote, the CalPERS Board rejected AHF's attempts to force a sale of GSK stock, and instead agreed to write a letter expressing its concerns that the company continue and expand its efforts to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (GlaxoSmithKline, 15 Apr. 2003)

• CalPERS to Glaxo: Lower AIDS Drug Prices, Increase Humanitarian Efforts - Nation's Largest Pension System Warns British Drug Giant of Damage to Reputation, Encourages GSK to Study Voluntary Licensing of Generic Life-Saving AIDS Drugs - Mammoth Pension Fund Holds Nearly USD$760 Million in GSK Stock (AIDS Healthcare Foundation, 15 Apr. 2003)

Aventis Donates Cell Line to NIH for SARS [USA] - Aventis said it donated a cell line to the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help isolate and reproduce the coronavirus, suspected of causing SARS. (Reuters, 10 Apr. 2003)

Consumer Health Advocates Warn Against Osteoporosis Drug - Forteo May Lead to Bone Cancer in Humans, Risk Outweighs Benefit - Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has recommended that patients not take teriparatide, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2002 for treatment of osteoporosis. Teriparatide, marketed by Eli Lilly under the name Forteo, has led to bone cancer in laboratory animals, a risk that far outweighs the drug’s benefit. (Public Citizen, 1 Apr. 2003)

• company website: Eli Lilly (Eli Lilly)

{···français} Accès aux médicaments du Sida: le docteur Gunther chez Mme Adjobi [Côte d'Ivoire] - Le docteur Gunther Faber, vice-président pour l'Afrique subsaharienne et l'Afrique du Sud des laboratoires Glaxosmithkline, principal fournisseur mondial des antirétroviraux (ARV), arrive à Abidjan aujourd'hui pour un séjour de trois jours...cette visite est porteuse d'espoir pour les malades du sida quant à l'accessibilité aux antirétroviraux. Ces produits restent toujours relativement chers pour les pays africains, malgré l'initiative d'accès aux ARV entamée l'année dernière par les principaux laboratoires exerçant dans ce domaine en direction des pays africains. (Elvis Kodjo, Fraternité Matin [Côte d'Ivoire], 31 mars 2003)

State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs [ADAPs], NASTAD Negotiate Lower Price for Fuzeon With Roche [USA] -...The meetings...brought together ADAP representatives from California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Texas...with representatives from Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb...Roche was the only company to come to a "satisfactory agreement" with the ADAPs...Five other drug companies have decided to continue negotiations, which are expected to conclude by late next month. (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 31 Mar. 2003)

Pharmaceuticals held to ransom? - Twelve of Europe's biggest investors have united in an attempt to challenge multinational drugs firms to improve access to medicines in poor countries, but, asks Jim Gough, will it change anything? -...According to Olivia Lankester, a senior analyst at Isis, eight leading pharmaceutical companies were alerted before the release of the investors' statement of good practice, and 'many of them' said they would welcome the initiative...GSK [GlaxoSmithKline] chief executive Jean-Pierre Garnier insists the company's policies, initiatives and commitments are already consistent with the investors' proposed framework. He believes GSK is the only company undertaking research and development into the prevention and treatment of the World Health Organisation's top priority diseases in the developing world, HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria...Nathan Ford, MSF's [Médecins Sans Frontières'] access to medicines adviser, says: 'I'm completely unconvinced that the industry is responding anything like adequately enough"...The Scottish arm of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry...said access to drugs can be limited by weaknesses among the governments of poor nations.  A spokeswoman said: 'Everybody concentrates on the patents -- but that is not the major issue. (Sunday Herald [Scotland], 30 Mar. 2003)

GSK confirms global commitment to Corporate and Social Responsibility - GlaxoSmithKline today reinforced its commitment to connecting GSK business decisions to ethical, social and environmental concerns...GSK believes that it has a responsibility to make its products as affordable as possible in the poorest countries. (GlaxoSmithKline, 28 Mar. 2003)

Bushmen to share royalties on anti-obesity drug [South Africa] - A group of South African hunter-gatherers is to receive six per cent of all royalties received by South Africa's leading research organisation from a potential anti-obesity drug derived from the local hoodia plant. Under the deal, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will also pay the San community eight per cent of all milestone payments received from Phytopharm, its UK-based licencee for the drug. The money will be used for the "general upliftment, development and training of the San community". (Tamar Kahn, SciDev.Net, 26 Mar. 2003)

The Dangers to Doha: The Risks of Failure in the Trade Round - The following is an address by Clare Short, MP, Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, to the Royal Institute of International Affairs...Today I want to talk to you about an urgent issue: the dangers to the Doha Trade Round and the imperative of acting now to secure a successful outcome of the Round. I want to spell out why this matters so much to developing countries. (Clare Short, UK Secretary of State for International Development, 25 Mar. 2003)

Investors pressure drug firms on pricing - Multinationals urged to allow developing countries to sidestep patents on life-saving treatments - Drug companies were given a stark warning yesterday that blocking access to life-saving drugs at affordable prices by poor countries could undermine public confidence in them and damage the value of their shares in the long term. The unprecedented pressure on the multinationals comes from major City institutions with investments of more than £600bn and backed by well-known names such as Jupiter, Schroders and Legal and General Investment Management. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 25 Mar. 2003)

• Financial institutions launch statement on pharmaceuticals and the health crisis in emerging markets (ISIS Asset Management, 24 Mar. 2003)

• full statement: "Investor Statement on pharmaceutical companies and the public health crisis in emerging markets" (ISIS Asset Mgt., Universities Superannuation Scheme, Insight Investment, Henderson Global Investors, Schroders, Legal & General Investment Mgt., Morley Fund Mgt., Co-operative Insurance, Jupiter, Ethos, PGGM, Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church, 24 Mar. 2003)

• Drugs industry told to do more for poor - The pharmaceuticals industry risks damaging its reputation and future profits if it does not do more to respond to health crises in poor countries, a group of European institutional investors said on Monday. (Reuters, 24 Mar. 2003) 

• Investors issue a wake-up call to the global pharmaceutical industry (Tobias Webb, Ethical Corporation Magazine, 26 Mar. 2003)

Drug giants 'next tobacco' warning - The pharmaceutical industry risks becoming the "new tobacco" unless it cleans up its act in developing countries, an influential group of investors has warned. The global drugs industry must do more to help poor countries facing health crises, according to investors from the US and continental Europe. (BBC News, 24 Mar. 2003)

United by Free Trade -...Meanwhile, the U.S. position on loosening patent rules on drugs for very poor developing countries is also in need of reexamination. It is unacceptable that millions of victims of AIDS, tuberculosis and other epidemics cannot afford the drugs that could cure them because the American drug industry keeps the prices too high. Talks on this issue collapsed last December, and although U.S. negotiators have agreed not to pursue poor countries that manufacture generic versions of critical drugs, the onus is still on the United States to make sure the drugs are genuinely and easily available where they need to be. (editorial, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2003)

Must do better to stay on FTSE4Good - The first companies were ejected from the FTSE4Good 'ethical' stock market indices last week after environmental criteria were tightened, and many others were warned that they will have to do better if they want to stay in after the next review in six months' time...Three UK companies have been kicked out by the FTSE4Good committee: the printer St Ives, financial software house RoyalBlue, and Goldshield, which sells vitamins and other food supplements such as Evening Primrose Oil and Flexeze. Elan, the troubled Irish pharmaceutical firm was also evicted from the indices. (Roger Cowe, Observer [UK], 23 Mar. 2003)

WATER: Multibillion Dollar Plan Launched At Forum Amid Protests - International financiers at the World Water Forum today in Kyoto launched a $180 billion plan to prevent a worldwide water crisis...Environmentalists and anti-poverty activists have criticized the plan, saying that the forum, which is largely sponsored by construction and drug companies, was being used by the private sector and focuses too much on large-scale funding at the expense of small-scale efficiency gains. (UN Wire, 21 Mar. 2003)

Indian Company in Partnership to Produce Cheap Meningitis Vaccine for Developing World - Serum Institute of India Ltd. has agreed to be the first to produce a vaccine for a strain of meningitis that is epidemic in Africa and will do so for approximately $.40 per dose. According to The Wall Street Journal, the project will be funded by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) a program established in 2001 with a $70 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to correct what supporters call a “market failure” in vaccines for the developing world. The vaccine for meningitis A was developed but never commercially produced by two major firms (Business for Social Responsibility summary of article in Wall Street Journal, 17 Mar. 2003)

The launch of the UK Corporate Responsibility Index - Toby Kent reports from the launch of the BitC [Business in the Community] Corporate Responsibility Index, highlighting its main components and the major issues it raises. (Toby Kent, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 14 Mar. 2003)

• Results of first Corporate Responsibility Index published [UK] - Business in the Community has released the results of its first annual Corporate Responsibility Index today. The index publicly benchmarks the responsible business practice of top companies in the UK...Companies in the top quintile are: 3M; AstraZeneca; Aviva; BAA; BP; BT Group; Carillion; Dow Chemical Company; ISIS; J Sainsbury; Marks & Spencer; mm02; National Grid Transco; Rio Tinto; Safeway; ScottishPower; Shell International; Tesco; Unilever; Waste Recycling Group; Co-operative Bank; Co-operative Insurance Society; Innogy Holdings; Lafarge Cement UK; Vivendi Water. (Business in the Community, 12 Mar. 2003)

• Corporate Responsibility Index (Business in the Community)

• 2002 Index Results (Business in the Community)

• New UK Index Rates Corporate Social Responsibility Performance (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 13 Mar. 2003)

Global Compact Participants Implementing Host of Supply Chain Initiatives - Reflecting a growing trend within the Global Compact initiative, Tweezerman, a leading manufacturer of personal-care products, announced that it plans to implement a new supplier agreement that mandates adherence to the nine principles of the Global Compact...Other companies that have submitted related examples [actively incorporating the Global Compact principles into their supply chains] to the Global Compact Learning Forum are: Petro-Canada, William E. Connor & Associates, Bayer AG, Li & Fung (Trading) Ltd., Ericsson, Robert Stephen Holdings, OneNest, and Engineers India Limited (U.N. Global Compact, 13 Mar. 2003)

Pharmaceutical Company Whistle-Blower Tells of 'Illegal' Tactics [USA] - David Franklin, the drug company whistle-blower who has sparked federal and state investigations into the marketing of the top-selling drug Neurontin, said yesterday that he and his former colleagues engaged in a series of inappropriate tactics, including misleading doctors to persuade them to prescribe the drug for unapproved uses. ''I was trained to do things and did things that were blatantly illegal''...Franklin spent just four months working as a medical liaison for Parke-Davis, the company that sold Neurontin and was later acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2000. Over the short period, he grew uncomfortable with the aggressive sales tactics even though he felt the rest of the drug industry was doing the same thing (Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 12 Mar. 2003)

• Pfizer, U.S. Discuss Settlement of Neurontin Inquiry [USA] - Federal prosecutors and Pfizer Inc. are continuing talks to settle allegations that the company illegally promoted its epilepsy drug, Neurontin, for uses that weren't approved by the government (Dow Jones, 12 Mar. 2003)

Charter for voluntary pollution control [India] - The Ministry of Environment and Forests and industrial sector are all set to enter into a partnership on voluntary pollution control by releasing a charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection in New Delhi on March 13...The 17 major polluting industries identified for preparatory approach towards pollution control are: cement, aluminium, thermal power plants, oil refineries, pesticides, iron and steel, pulp and paper, copper and zinc, distilleries, sugar, petrochemicals, dye and dye intermediates, caustic soda, pharmaceuticals, tanneries and fertilizer industry. (The Hindu, 10 Mar. 2003)

$100-million lawsuit questions Bayer's handling of recalled cholesterol drug - A $100-million US lawsuit unfolding in a Texas courtroom has yielded e-mails and internal documents suggesting Bayer Corp. disregarded disturbing research on the cholesterol drug Baycol before pulling it off the market because of dozens of deaths. (Lynn Brezosky, Canadian Press, 7 Mar. 2003)

Africa's aid plan seeks healthy growth -...The task of tackling diseases of poverty is huge, matched only by the lack of research into them.  Pharmaceutical firms have developed 1,700 medicines approved for clinical use in the last 15 years.  Yet only 11 were targeted at tropical diseases. (Adam Lusekelo, BBC News, 6 Mar. 2003)

HIV/AIDS II: WHO, UNICEF Praise Drug Makers' Cooperation Pledge - The World Health Organization and UNICEF yesterday welcomed a pledge by the International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance and makers of anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS drugs to collaborate with the United Nations on increasing low-cost access to such drugs in poor countries. (UN Wire, 27 Feb. 2003)

Bayer shares fall as Baycol woes mount - Shares in Bayer AG fell five percent on Monday after a U.S. newspaper reported that senior company executives knew of the risks associated with its Baycol cholesterol drug long before it was recalled. (Sitaraman Shankar, Reuters, 24 Feb. 2003)

Patent relaxation threatens Aids drugs -...The US develops 70 per cent of all new drugs and most Aids drugs. Yet 25 per cent fewer drug companies are working on Aids drugs than a few years ago, partly because their previous discoveries are being ripped off. The US trade representative should continue to stand up for patents against the rest of the world, allowing only the poorest 60 or so countries to copy patented drugs. (Roger Bate, Africa Fighting Malaria, letter to Financial Times, 18 Feb. 2003)

Lawsuits target drug pricing: Companies' discounts to doctors under scrutiny - New York state filed a lawsuit against two major pharmaceutical companies Thursday in a case that accuses them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies' drugs over competing medicines...The lawsuits charge that the companies - GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pharmacia Corp. - gave discounts to doctors and pharmacies that bought their drugs. A third drugmaker, Aventis, has been notified that it may also be sued...Regulators are also concerned that cancer doctors may have a financial incentive to recommend inappropriate or unnecessary chemotherapy because they are able to profit from prescribing particular drugs. (Reed Abelson and Jonathan D. Glater, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb. 2003)

"Human Rights and Ethical Globalization" -...On this occasion my intention is to consider how, by using the language and tools of international human rights, we can shape a more ethical globalization...there is increasing recognition that if fundamental rights are to be implemented it is essential to ensure that obligations fall where power is exercised, whether it is in the local village, the corporate board room or in the international meeting rooms of the WTO, the World Bank or the IMF...discussion is only now beginning on the fundamental question of how to ensure equitable access to life saving drugs...I hope, through my new work, to engage the major pharmaceutical companies in addressing these issues from a human rights perspective. (lecture by Mary Robinson, Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, at Stanford University, 12 Feb. 2003)

Diarrhoea vaccine on fast track for poor nations -...The PATH project will work with vaccine manufacturers and developing country governments to finance clinical trials in developing countries and accelerate the vaccine's availability to those children who need it the most. (Natasha McDowell, SciDev.Net, 12 Feb. 2003)

DRUGS: WTO Members Allow One Week To Reach Deal For Poor Countries - World Trade Organization member countries yesterday in Geneva gave negotiators one more week to reach a deal on providing inexpensive drugs to poor countries after the United States said it needed more time to consider new proposals (UN Wire, 11 Feb. 2002)

• US pressed to allow cheap drugs for poor countries (Larry Elliott, Guardian [UK], 11 Feb. 2003)

Ivax submits inhaler that doesn't deplete ozone - Ivax Corp. said this week it submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking approval for a new asthma inhaler that uses the common treatment albuterol but does not deplete the ozone layer like most devices. (Reuters, 5 Feb. 2003) 

DRUGS: WHO To Push WTO On Patents -...According to Brazilian Health Minister Humberto Costa, the WHO is planning to send a letter to the WTO calling for public health interests to be given priority over the interests of the pharmaceutical industry (UN Wire, 28 Jan. 2003)

• {···português} OMS vai priorizar quebra de patentes (Jornal do Brasil, 28 janeiro 2003)

HIV/AIDS: WHO Welcomes Drug Makers' Patent Moves - The World Health Organization Friday welcomed new initiatives by several drug companies to license their patents to generic manufacturers for production of certain HIV/AIDS drugs. (UN Wire, 27 Jan. 2003)

• UN health agency welcomes move by companies to licence some HIV/AIDS drugs (UN News Centre, 24 Jan. 2003)

Patents are not the problem with drugs access -...In reality, 99 per cent of the World Health Organisation's list of essential drugs are not patented - yet access to these medicines is abysmally low. The reason is the grinding poverty in poor countries and a lack of health infrastructure. If rich countries wanted to show that they took poor country concerns seriously, they should start reducing agricultural subsidies. (Richard Tren, Africa Fighting Malaria, letter to Financial Times, 2 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Strict International Patent Laws Hurt Developing Countries - What was the South African lawsuit about, and what does it tell us about globalization? [regarding lawsuit filed in 1998 by 39 pharmaceutical companies against South Africa, seeking to stop the government from producing generic drugs to make treatment affordable for the country's AIDS victims; after an international public outcry the companies dropped the lawsuit] (Amy Kapczynski, YaleGlobal, 16 Dec. 2002)

DRUGS: Access Must Not Harm World Trade, WTO Head Says - "...if we fail to protect the patents of entrepreneurs who channel billions of dollars into developing new drugs, our hopes of finding lifesaving medication for currently untreatable ailments will be dashed," he [WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi] said (UN Wire, 16 Dec. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: International Coalition On Anti-Retrovirals Launched - The World Health Organization, the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and dozens of other institutions today launched the International HIV Treatment Access Coalition to expand access to anti-retroviral drugs in poor and middle-income countries. (UN Wire, 12 Dec. 2002)

Mandela launches new South African AIDS drug campaign -...The programme will seek to negotiate cheaper drug prices from big pharmaceutical firms. (Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 6 Dec. 2002)

RIVER BLINDNESS: WHO Ending West African Program, Claiming Success -...Initially, the control program focused on spraying of larvicide to kill black flies, but in 1988, it began distributing the anti-parasite drug ivermectin, which Merck offered free of charge. (UN Wire, 4 Dec. 2002)

press release: Access to essential drugs may be undermined by global patent agreement -...The Panos Report, Patents, Pills and Public Health: can TRIPS deliver? warns that patent legislation is not being debated widely enough in most developing countries, and the process of introducing it needs to be more consultative and transparent. (Panos Institute, 1 Dec. 2002)

• full report: Patents, Pills and Public Health - Can TRIPS Deliver? (Panos Institute, Dec. 2002)

Industrialised North Puts Brakes on WTO Medicine Accord - Negotiators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) failed Friday to reach an agreement to ensure poor countries access to essential medicines. Health activists blame the fiasco on opposition from the United States and a handful of other industrialised countries. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 29 Nov. 2002)

GENETIC DATA: UNESCO Committee Discussing Ethical Guidelines - UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee is discussing an international instrument to govern the use of human genetic data at its ninth session, which opened today in Montreal. (UN Wire, 26 Nov. 2002)

Companies Will Pay for Polluting New Jersey Water [USA] - Nineteen polluters will together pay a total of $3 million to compensate the state of New Jersey and East Hanover Township for contamination of the local drinking water supply...The settling parties are: Voltronics Corporation; G & F Management; Vincent and Irene Muccione; Viscot Industries, Inc.; MCE/KDI Corporation; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Deforest Investment Co. L.L.C.; Philomena Gasparine; Estate of Sylvio Gasparine; Prime Fabricators, Inc.; Township of East Hanover; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Dorine Industrial Park Partnership; Precision Rolled Products, Inc.; Phelps Dodge Corporation (f/k/a Cyprus Amax Mineral Company); GTE Operations Support Incorporated; Ingersoll-Rand Company and Royal Lubricants Company, Inc. (Environment News Service, 25 Nov. 2002)

HEPATITIS: U.N.-Backed Vaccine Initiative Reaches 10.5 Million Children -...There is clear evidence, the report said, that a public-private alliance along with significant backing from GAVI's financing branch, the Vaccine Fund, could create new interest in vaccines for the poorest countries. (UN Wire, 21 Nov. 2002)

VACCINES: U.N. Calls For More Investment, Cheaper Products - Immunizations are saving 3 million lives a year but could save 3 million more with more investment and less expensive vaccines, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said today in a report (UN Wire, 20 Nov. 2002)

New Findings In Malaria Vaccine Development Announced At International Malaria Conference (Malaria Vaccine Initiative, 19 Nov. 2002)

• MALARIA: International Conference Focuses On Vaccine Progress -...Conference attendees heard about the progress of various vaccine trials, including the first pediatric clinical trials in Africa of a vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline..."The crucial difference between the situation today and several years ago is the increase in the number of malaria vaccine clinical trials in Africa with industry sponsorship," said W. Ripley Ballou of MedImmune (UN Wire, 18 Nov. 2002)

DRUGS: Ministers At WTO Meeting Report Progress On Generics - Several of the 25 ministers attending a World Trade Organization meeting in Sydney today reported progress on permitting poor nations to import inexpensive generic medicines. (UN Wire, 15 Nov. 2002)

US drug makers accused of bullying - The US government and the giant pharmaceutical companies are continuing to bully poor countries to tighten up their patent rules, hampering efforts to obtain cheap medicines for people with diseases such as HIV/Aids, according to a new report [by Oxfam] (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 14 Nov. 2002)

DRUGS: WTO Ministers Meet To Tackle Generics - A two-day World Trade Organization ministerial meeting was slated to open today in Sydney, with much discussion expected to focus on amending international patent rules to provide poor countries with access to cheap generic medicines. (UN Wire, 14 Nov. 2002)

Investing in Africa, challenges and initiatives - Alex Blyth looks at the principal issues around western business investment in Africa and some of the companies that are attempting to improve their impact on the landscape and people of the continent [refers to Environment: TotalFinaElf in Nigeria; Palabora Mining Company (49% owned by Rio Tinto) in South Africa; Anglo American; DeBeers; Water & sanitation: Suez in Morocco & South Africa; Thames Water in Tanzania & South Africa; Education: ChevronTexaco in Nigeria; Old Mutual in South Africa; Barclays Africa; Economic development: Richards Bay Minerals (50% owned by Rio Tinto) in South Africa; HIV/AIDS:  Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland; DaimlerChrysler in South Africa; Coca-Cola]  (Alex Blyth, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 11 Nov. 2002)

POLIO: Aventis Pasteur Gives U.N. 30 Million Vaccine Doses - Aventis Pasteur Friday donated 30 million doses of polio vaccine to help the World Health Organization and UNICEF immunize 60 million children against polio in 16 West African countries. (UN Wire, 11 Nov. 2002)

Unions say threats to free speech and other rights a growing issue in white-collar workplaces [USA] -...Limits on scholarly research in colleges and universities by conditional corporate giving....Soley [Professor Lawrence Soley] charges that priorities and research of physics and engineering departments are being influenced by large defense contracts; biology and chemistry departments by drug companies and biotech firms; and computer science departments by chip makers and software firms – a development that has led many universities to place the interests of business ahead of students and basic research. (American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, 23 Oct. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Merck Announces Drug Price Cuts In Poor Countries - Pharmaceutical company Merck today announced a 30 percent price cut for a new tablet form of one of its main HIV/AIDS drugs, Stocrin, in "the least developed countries of the world and those hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic" (UN Wire, 23 Oct. 2002)

MEDICINES: 2 Billion People Lack Access To Essential Drugs, WHO Says -...Medecins Sans Frontieres' Bernard Pecoul said patents, particularly on AIDS drugs, lead to higher prices, "with the direct result that people in developing countries cannot afford to save their own lives" (UN Wire, 22 Oct. 2002)

GLOBAL FUND: UNAIDS, WHO Revise Figures, Say AIDS Fight Underfunded -...UNAIDS and WHO said substantial boosts in expenditures from all quarters -- governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector -- are urgently needed to keep pace with the epidemic's rapid expansion (UN Wire, 11 Oct. 2002)

• New figures show AIDS fight under-resourced: Existing funds insufficient to keep pace (UNAIDS and World Health Organization, 10 Oct. 2002)

• {···español} Nuevos datos indican que la lucha contra el SIDA recibe insuficientes recursos: Los fondos disponibles no son suficientes para mantener el ritmo (ONUSIDA y la Organización Mundial de la Salud, 10 octubre 2002)

• {···français} De nouveaux chiffres révèlent l'insuffisance des ressources disponsibles pour la lutte contre le SIDA: Les fonds existants ne suffiront pas à maintenir le rythme (ONUSIDA et l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, 10 octobre 2002)

MENINGITIS: African Outbreak Prompts Calls For Lower-Priced Vaccine (UN Wire, 30 Sep. 2002)

• An Epidemic of Wilful Neglect: International health community 'ill-prepared' for next African meningitis epidemic - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that thousands may die of wilful neglect unless a vaccine is made available at an affordable price to the African countries most affected by meningitis...The best offer so far, by GSK, has been US$3.5 (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Sep. 2002)

• Urgent call for action on meningitis in Africa: Vaccine price and shortage the major obstacles (World Health Organization, 27 Sep. 2002)

• {···español} Llamamiento urgente a la acción contra la meningitis en Africa: Los precios y la escasez de las vacunas son los obstáculos principales (Organización Mundial de la Salud, 27 septiembre 2002)

• {···français} Appel en faveur de mesures d’urgence contre la méningite en Afrique: Les prix trop élevés et la pénurie de vaccins sont les principaux obstacles (Organisation mondiale de la Santé, 27 septembre 2002)

• Aid groups: New meningitis strain threatens Africans -...The aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres claimed the problem stemmed from lack of government and international pressure on drug companies. (AP, 19 Sep. 2002) 

U.S. and W.T.O. Negotiate Drug Access - The United States and the World Trade Organization will try to come up with an agreement by year-end on how to give poor countries greater access to drugs to fight AIDS and other diseases, trade officials said today. (Bloomberg News, 27 Sep. 2002)

Oxfam response to EC working document on Tiered Pricing -...Tiered Pricing is not enough [regarding access to medicines] (Oxfam, 26 Sep. 2002)

Coca-Cola extends AIDS coverage in Africa - Under fire from activists, The Coca-Cola Co. announced Thursday it was joining with its bottlers in Africa to extend AIDS health care coverage, including access to expensive drugs, to tens of thousands of workers. (Paul Geitner, AP, 26 Sep. 2002)

• Coca-Cola bottlers to add AIDS benefits in Africa - Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co., which has been criticized for not doing enough to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa, announced on Thursday that 40 of its bottlers there were expanding HIV/AIDS benefits for workers on the continent. (Paul Simao, Reuters, 26 Sep. 2002)

• PharmAccess International organizes a HIV/AIDS Treatment Program in Collaboration With the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and Coca-Cola Bottlers in 56 Countries in Africa: Program designed to Expand Employee Healthcare Include Prevention, AIDS Testing and Drug Treatment that will start in Southern and Eastern Africa - PharmAccess International announced today that it will participate in a program to expand employee healthcare in collaboration with the Coca Cola Africa Foundation and the Coca Cola Bottlers. Other partners in the program are Population Services International and GlaxoSmithKline. (PharmAccess International, 26 Sep. 2002)

Engaging with stakeholders: Suzanne Stormer of Stakeholder Relations at Novo Nordisk, the global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Denmark, argues that the heart of a successful reporting process is stakeholder engagement (Suzanne Stormer, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

Aids lobbyists tackle drug giants [South Africa] -...AIDS activists lodged complaints against two pharmaceutical giants yesterday, accusing them of over-pricing their medicines and causing thousands of deaths. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) AIDS lobby group and others lodged the complaints against GlaxoSmithKline, which has its headquarters in Britain, and Boehringer Ingelheim, of Germany, with South Africa's Competition Commission.  (AFP, in Business Day [South Africa], 20 Sep. 2002)

• Drug companies come under fire - Complaint to commission may leave drug companies open to public scrutiny Science and Education Correspondent -...The complaint, brought by AIDS activists, trade unionists, health care professionals and individuals living with HIV/AIDS, alleges that Glaxo and Boehringer are currently charging prices in excess of the economic value of their drugs. (Business Day [South Africa], 20 Sep. 2002)

Taking on the drug giants [South Africa] - Nontsikelelo Zwedala, an HIV-positive squatter from Philippi in the Western Cape, has joined the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in a move to force two pharmaceutical giants to cut the cost of their Aids drugs. They have filed papers with the Competition Commission, alleging monopolistic abuse of patent power. (Nawaal Deane, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 19 Sep. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Drug Maker Urges Stronger Coalition Against Disease - U.N. agencies, pharmaceutical companies, large employers and governments should form a "constructive partnership" to confront the HIV/AIDS crisis in southern Africa, Merck Chief Executive Ray Gilmartin said in Botswana last week. Gilmartin presented a Merck-Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation program in the country as a model of public-private cooperation. The drug maker is giving free anti-retrovirals to Botswana and granting the country $50 million over five years to combat an adult HIV rate of 38.5 percent. Meanwhile, large employers in the region have been negotiating with drug makers to secure HIV/AIDS drugs for their workers. (UN Wire, 16 Sep. 2002)

• Merck seeks wider coalition on Aids - Merck, the US pharmaceutical company, this week called for the strengthening of a private sector coalition to fight the HIV/Aids pandemic ravaging southern Africa. (James Lamont, Financial Times, 12 Sep. 2002)

Patent laws hamper war on poverty - The fight against poverty in the developing world is being hampered by stringent patent laws imposed by rich countries, an independent commission said (Heather Stewart, Guardian [UK], 13 Sep. 2002)

• PATENTS - Panel slams patent burden on poor - Poor countries have little to gain and plenty to lose from adopting Western levels of patent protection, a group of experts appointed by the British government said on Thursday. The Commission on Intellectual Property Rights concluded that a global drive to expand patent protection would mean higher-priced medicines and seeds for most developing countries (Ben Hirschler, Reuters, 12 Sep 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Hope Of Free Treatment Draws Botswana's Neighbors - Rising numbers of southern African HIV/AIDS sufferers are going to Botswana because of its free anti-retroviral drug program...Botswana is the only southern African country to offer universal provision of anti-retroviral drugs through a partnership with U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (UN Wire, 12 Sep. 2002)

Experts mull global pact to cut mercury use - Scientists from around the globe began a week-long conference yesterday aimed at shaping a programme to cut back the use of mercury - a toxic substance which poisons and cripples hundreds of people annually...Widely used for decades in lamps, batteries and electrical equipment because it is an excellent conductor of heat, as well as in thermometers and dental fillings, it can cause permanent damage to the brain, nervous system and kidneys. UNEP says it has also been used in some pesticides and pharmaceuticals, as well as in some skin-lightening creams. (Reuters, 10 Sep. 2002)

• MERCURY: UNEP Discusses Reducing Emissions Impact (UN Wire, 9 Sep. 2002)

Cipla prompts a worldwide slide in the price of anti-HIV drugs - The Indian pharmaceutical’s move has made anti-HIV drugs more accessible to patients (InfoChange [India]) [added to this website on 10 Sep. 2002]

Change in the desert [India] - Lupin India Ltd [the third-largest pharmaceutical group in India] has helped ensure sustainable development in 154 villages in Rajasthan (InfoChange [India]) [added to this website on 10 Sep. 2002]

China may break Aids drug patents - China will be forced to break patents on Western Aids drugs unless foreign pharmaceutical companies agree to cut prices by early next year, a top health official said. (BBC News, 6 Sep. 2002)

MEDICINES: WHO Releases First-Ever Guide To Essential Drugs -...According to the WHO, only two-thirds of the population in developing countries have access to essential medicines, despite the fact that drugs can represent up to 40 percent of the cost of such countries' health care budgets. (UN Wire, 5 Sep. 2002)

Ecology opens for business [World Summit on Sustainable Development] -...Sir Mark [Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chairman of Shell who now heads Business Action for Sustainable Development] is lobbying for global leaders to disregard calls by NGOs to introduce multilateral rules governing business conduct. "The summit is taking place just as massive corporate scandals are undermining economic growth and confidence throughout the world. There is widespread recognition that self-regulation has failed," says Daniel Graymore, a campaigner for Christian Aid, the UK charity. Sir Mark concedes that greater corporate accountability is needed. But he argues that standards for business should be enforced at a national rather than global level...while some NGOs remain openly hostile to business, others are keen to work with it. BASD is promoting 230 partnerships between business and NGOs at the summit. They include the secondment of staff from HSBC, the banking group, to Earthwatch environmental projects, carmaker Fiat's development of gas-powered cars and the treatment of sleeping sickness in Africa by Aventis, the pharmaceuticals group. (James Lamont & John Mason, Financial Times, 31 Aug. 2002) 

UN to focus on corporate help to fight Aids - The United Nations has abandoned its policy of relying on governments to tackle the HIV/Aids crisis in the developing world, saying it would now help fund corporate initiatives to provide anti-retroviral drugs to sufferers...Richard Holbrooke, president of the Global Business Coalition on Aids, a grouping of 75 international companies, and former US ambassador to the UN, said the policy change was "an important step in the right direction". He said: "If Anglo American and De Beers take leadership, it will pressure other companies to take similar steps. It will finally get corporations to take up their role in the process [to fight HIV/Aids]. Up to now, business has been doing less than 10 per cent of what they should have done." (James Lamont, Financial Times, 29 Aug. 2002)

Business: Sir Mark Moody-Stuart [former Chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group & head of the main industry lobby group at the World Summit for Sustainable Development] Helps Corporations With High Visibility at Johannesburg Summit - "There is a great deal of mutual distrust, which we have to get over," said Moody-Stuart in an exclusive interview with The Earth Times. "We believe in good international governance for issues like climate change and trade. It is a myth that we are not in favour of regulation."...Moody-Stuart has come to this summit with proposals of over one hundred such partnerships between corporations, non-governmental organizations and governments. One such partnership is a project between Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline, UNICEF, World Bank to improve access to AIDS care in the hardest-hit regions of the world. (Preeti Dawra, Earth Times, 28 Aug. 2002)

AIDS Activists from 21 African Countries Launch Pan-African HIV/AIDS Treatment Access Movement - At World Summit on Sustainable Development, Activists Demand Access to Affordable HIV/AIDS Treatment for all Africans with HIV/AIDS - Activists to Hold Governments, Multilateral Agencies, and the Private Sector Accountable for Meeting WHO Target of at Least 3 Million People in Developing World on ARV Treatment by 2005 (Médecins Sans Frontières, 26 Aug. 2002)

UN says earth summit will focus on Aids -...The focus on HIV/Aids is likely to open the debate on the affordability of anti-retroviral drugs...The debate on HIV/Aids is likely to involve the corporate sector, which is represented at the summit by 50 chief executives of multinational companies. (James Lamont, Financial Times, 25 Aug. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Zambia To Offer Free Anti-Retroviral Drugs (UN Wire, 23 Aug. 2002)

Big oil groups top league for 'greenwash' - The big oil companies were some of the first multinationals to find themselves in the environmental "hall of shame" on Friday in the run up to next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development...Friends of the Earth singled out Shell, British Petroleum (BP) and ExxonMobil for accusations that they had played up green credentials but fell short of their much-publicised environmentally friendly ideals...The "Green Oscars" were awarded by FoE to companies that had produced the most "greenwash" since the Rio Earth summit in 1992. It ranked among the best theatrical performances those by oil companies and the biotech companies Monsanto, Novartis and Aventis. Sasol, the South African fuels company, and Eskom, the local state-owned power group, also received "honourable" mentions. (James Lamont, Financial Times, 23 Aug. 2002)

TRADE: New Study Examines How WTO Agreements Affect Public Health - Public health must be taken into consideration in the drafting of trade rules, according to a joint study released today by the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization...The 171-page study, WTO Agreements and Public Health, says nations should be able to restrict imports and exports when the health of its people or wildlife is affected. It examines issues including infectious disease control, food safety, tobacco, environment, access to drugs, health services, food security and biotechnology. (UN Wire, 22 Aug. 2002)

• WTO Agreements and Public Health — A joint study by WHO and the WTO Secretariat (World Trade Organization, 20 Aug. 2002)

• {···español} Los acuerdos de la OMC y la salud pública — un estudio conjunto de la OMS y la Secretaría de la OMC (Organización Mundial del Comercio, 20 agosto 2002)

• {···français} Les accords de l'OMC et la santé publique, étude conjointe de l'OMS et du Secrétariat de l'OMC (l’Organisation mondiale du Commerce, 20 août 2002)

• full report: WTO Agreements and Public Health (World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization Secretariat, Aug. 2002)

• {···español} Los acuerdos de la OMC y la salud pública (La Organización Mundial de la Salud y la Secretaría de la Organización Mundial del Comercio, agosto 2002)

• {···français} Les accords de l'OMC et la santé publique (L'Organisation mondiale de la Santé et le Secrétariat de l’Organisation mondiale du Commerce, août 2002)

DRUGS: Nonprofit Manufacturer Seeks To Fill Gaps - The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday on the world's first nonprofit pharmaceutical firm, the Institute for OneWorld Health, which is leading the development, testing and production of drugs to fight diseases that threaten millions in Asia and Latin America. Many of the drugs have been abandoned by commercial firms because they lack significant profit potential. (UN Wire, 20 Aug. 2002)

• Drug firm seeks cures over cash - S.F. nonprofit wants to help poor nations (David Perlman, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Aug. 2002)

• Institute for OneWorld Health: The mission of the Institute for OneWorld Health is to develop new, essential and affordable medicines for neglected diseases (Institute for OneWorld Health)

HIV/AIDS: China Producing Cheaper, Local Treatment - Chinese drug maker Northeast Pharmaceutical Group said yesterday that it will begin offering China's first locally produced HIV/AIDS drug, a version of zidovudine, as early as next month, the state-run China Daily reports. The move is expected to reduce greatly the cost of the medication. (UN Wire, 16 Aug. 2002)

Lawyers Say Drug Makers Knew of Diluted Products [USA] - Internal documents show that two drug companies knew that a pharmacist was diluting cancer drugs as long as three years before his arrest, lawyers for patients said in a court motion filed on Monday. The motion said neither, Eli Lilly & Company nor the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company told the government of their discovery about the pharmacist, Robert Courtney, leading to untimely deaths for "countless cancer patients."...Judy Kay Moore, a spokeswoman for Eli Lilly, dismissed the new accusations, saying, "These plaintiffs' attorneys have cut and pasted, embellished and mischaracterized the documents and sworn testimony." Bristol-Myers did not return phone calls from The Associated Press for comment. (Associated Press, in New York Times, 7 Aug. 2002) 

BIODIVERSITY: New UNEP Report Warns Of Escalating Human Threat - The atlas also warns that one major drug is lost every two years given the current extinction rates for plants and animals, while less than 1 percent of the world's 250,000 tropical plants has been studied for potential pharmaceutical applications. (UN Wire, 2 Aug. 2002)

• 'World Atlas of Biodiversity' first map-based view of earth's living resources - Atlas underlines vital role of ecosystems in reducing poverty and delivering prosperity ahead of World Summit on Sustainable Development (U.N. Environment Programme, 1 Aug. 2002)

• Analysis: A global picture of death, damage and destruction - Atlas produced by the United Nations demonstrates how mankind is changing the world and driving thousands of species to extinction (Independent [UK], 2 August 2002)

South Africa's Aids apartheid -...People who are HIV positive are therefore beginning to raise demands far beyond the question of medical treatment: the rebuilding of public services, access to an unconditional basic income of 100 rand (10 euros) a month, workers' rights...Too expensive for the poorest countries, these drugs [antiretrovirals] are at the heart of the debate on globalisation. Can patents take precedence over the right to life? (Philippe Rivière, Le Monde diplomatique, Aug. 2002)

Kalahari cactus boosts UK drug firm - An anti-obesity drug made from a Kalahari desert cactus is a step closer to reality after its developer, UK drug company Phytopharm, signed a fresh deal with US giant Pfizer...In the hope of staving off the anger that sometimes surrounds companies which exploit traditional medicines without rewarding their original discoverers, the company signed a deal in 1997 with the South African government for a cut of the royalties. (BBC News, 30 July 2002)

A bad year for FTSE4Good -...the very fact that the indices have taken such an inclusive approach has prompted claims that they are not ethical enough. Some of those who think of themselves as ethical investors wouldn't want their money going anywhere near some of the oil, gas and drugs companies and high street banks that feature in them. (Rupert Jones, Guardian [UK], 27 July 2002)

New effort to reach women with tetanus vaccine could save thousands of lives - Pre-Filled Injection Device Is Helping Reach Remotest Communities - UNICEF today announced concentrated efforts to reach women in poor, hard-to-reach communities with vaccine against maternal and neonatal tetanus...Uniject™ is manufactured by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) and another company, Bio Farma, produces the vaccine and fills the syringe. The two companies have jointly donated 9 million units to UNICEF over the next three years for use in the collaborative effort to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus. "This is an excellent example of a partnership between the public and private sectors," Bellamy [Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF] said. (UNICEF, 26 July 2002)

• TETANUS: UNICEF Launches Vaccine Drive With New Device (UN Wire, 26 July 2002)

Ranbaxy: Providing sustainable and primary healthcare to poor communities [India] -...Ranbaxy, one of India’s major pharmaceutical firms, has in place a programme to provide primary healthcare and other sustainable healthcare services to poor communities as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative. (InfoChange [India]), sourced from Business Standard [India], 22 July 2002)

Bayer and the UN Global Compact - How and Why a Major Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company "Bluewashes" its Image -...Bayer's use of the Global Compact is a classic case of "bluewash" -- using the good reputation of the United Nations to present a corporate humanitarian image without a commitment to changing real-world behavior [includes reference to conduct during World Wars I and II, pesticide & environmental issues] (Philipp Mimkes, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, Corpwatch website, 19 July 2002)

• Why Bayer's Corporate Image May Need a Face Lift [sections entitled "Biotech Controversy"; "Didn't Pull HIV Infected Products From the Market"; "Tried to Suppress Cheaper Generics"] (Phillipp Mimkes, Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, Corpwatch website, 19 July 2002)

• company website: Bayer AG 

Rio + 10 Series: UNAIDS' Accelerating Access Initiative May Decelerate Access: ACT UP Paris criticizes Accelerating Access, a joint United Nations/pharmaceutical industry initiative, for limiting price reduction on AIDS medicine in developing nations. -...Accelerating Access Initiative...consists of five pharmaceutical companies: Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman-LaRoche, and Merck. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 19 July 2002) 

• Accelerating Access to HIV Care, Support and Treatment (UNAIDS)

HIV/AIDS: Anti-Retroviral Drug Prices Fall Unevenly In Latin America, Caribbean - The Pan American Health Organization announced yesterday that the prices of anti-retroviral drugs dropped "dramatically" last year in Latin America and the Caribbean region, due to agreements between pharmaceutical companies and health ministries. Yet PAHO found wide differences between 14 countries it examined (UN Wire, 19 July 2002)

South African Community Growth Fund Celebrates Tenth Anniversary - The Community Growth Fund invests in South African companies committed to sustainable development and triple bottom line reporting [refers to companies that went through protracted process before qualifying for CGF investment: South African Breweries, Rand Water, Naspers Group; companies removed from the CGF: Western Deep Level mine, Hoskens Consolidated Investments, Liberty Life; companies that refused to submit to CGF's social audit: Aspen Pharmacare, Sun International, Vanadium Corp. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 17 July 2002) 

New Standard for Corporate Social Responsibility of Drugs Companies - Oxfam, Save the Children and VSO have developed an industry standard for assessing the corporate social responsibility of drugs companies in responding to the health crisis in the developing world. - In a new report, Beyond Philanthropy, published today, the three development agencies propose a set of benchmarks to assist investors in assessing the social responsibility of pharmaceutical companies. These benchmarks relate to company policies and practices in five key areas which impact on access to medicines for the 14 million children and adults who die each year from infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. The key areas are: pricing, patents, joint public private initiatives, research and development and appropriate use of medicines. (Oxfam, Save the Children and VSO, 16 July 2002)

• full report: Beyond Philanthropy: the pharmaceutical industry, corporate social responsibility and the developing world (Oxfam, Save the Children and VSO, July 2002)

Generic competition leads to dramatic drop in price of AIDS medicines - Research published by Oxfam clearly shows that the availability of cheap generic medicines in developing countries plays a significant role in cutting the price of patented antiretrovirals (ARVs) and in increasing the number of patients who have access to the lifesaving medicines. (Oxfam International, 10 July 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Caribbean States, Drug Firms Reach Deal On Cheaper Medicine - The 15 nations of the Caribbean Community have reached an agreement with a group of major pharmaceutical firms to receive discounts of up to 90 percent for HIV/AIDS-related drugs...The six companies involved are: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co., Abbott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche AG and Boehringer Ingelheim (UN Wire, 9 July 2002)

• Cheaper AIDS Drugs for Caribbean (Bert Wilkinson, Associated Press, 7 July 2002) 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: Venezuela Pushes Heritage Plan At WIPO - Venezuela has brought before the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva a program aimed at preserving the knowledge and heritage of its indigenous people through photographs, video, audio and text and ensuring indigenous groups benefit from the use of the information, El Universal reported yesterday...Proponents say countries and businesses -- mainly cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies -- seek insight from ethnic communities on plants, biodiversity and other traditions but do not compensate them. (UN Wire, 9 July 2002)

• {···español} Tradición indígena protegida - Base de datos para preservar conocimientos ancestrales - Un proyecto recopila a través de fotos, textos, video y sonido información de las etnias venezolanas - Se espera que en un futuro los grupos indígenas puedan obtener beneficios del uso de sus conocimientos (Jenny Lozano, El Universal [Venezuela], 8 julio 2002)

Peruvian's love root under threat - Today ActionAid joins the tug-of-love between poor farmers and a US corporation over a natural alternative to Viagra. The international charity is joining the global campaign calling on PureWorld Botanicals to drop its patents on maca, a sexual stimulant grown high in the Peruvian mountains. Local people risk losing out on booming profits as patents lodged by the US corporation could stop them selling extracts of the plant in the UK and the rest of the world. (ActionAid, 7 July 2002)

South Africa 'must provide Aids drug' - South Africa's constitutional court has ordered the government to provide a key anti-Aids drug at all public hospitals. The drug helps prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV-Aids. (BBC News, 5 July 2002)

Doctors criticised over drug company payments [UK] - Doctors have been criticised for not admitting they receive payments for recruiting patients to clinical trials. (BBC News, 5 July 2002)

India's Digital Library Aids Biopirates - Activists - Far from protecting biodiversity and traditional knowledge, India's new Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) may be just the thing that biopirates have been looking for in navigating through the country's vast ocean of ancient literature on indigenous herbs and their uses, critics say. (Ranjit Devraj, Inter Press Service, 4 July 2002)

Study Shows Eco-Efficiency Yields Healthy Returns on Pharmaceuticals’ Stock - Pharmaceutical companies with superior environmental performance have outperformed laggards by 17% in the stock market over the past year, according to a new study (GreenBiz.com, 3 July 2002)

• Eco-Efficient Pharmaceutical Companies Have Higher Share Value (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 3 July 2002)

EU to curb dioxins levels in food/feed from today - Food and animal feed manufacturers across the European Union must abide by strict new limits on permitted levels of cancer-causing dioxins from July 1, the European Commission said last week. Dioxins are accidental by-products generated mainly through incineration by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and can be absorbed through the skin or eaten in food. (Reuters, 1 July 2002)

Drug Companies and Their Role in Aiding Executions [USA] [refers to the following companies as manufacturing, selling and/or distributing those drugs used in lethal injections (drugs that also have legitimate uses): Abbott, Baxter Intl., Wyeth, Gensia Sicor, American Pharmaceutical Partners, AmerisourceBergen, B. Braun Medical, Cardinal Health] (National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty [USA], July 2002)

HIV plan saves lives and cash [South Africa] - Cosatu and the Treatment Action Campaign are to table a national HIV/Aids treatment plan in Nedlac following the first national treatment conference, which concluded in Durban this week. This will allow Cosatu to declare a dispute with government and business should no agreement be reached in the National Economic, Development and Labour Council on implementation of the treatment plan. (Kerry Cullinan, Business Day [South Africa], 30 June 2002)

Analysis: HIV / AIDS and reputation management in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Lynne M Copeland, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 28 June 2002)

Abbott Rolls Out New Effort to Combat Malaria, AIDS in Africa - Returning from a recent trip to Tanzania, Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Officer Miles White has decided to invest in Tanzanian communities and improve the company’s efforts to combat AIDS and malaria throughout Africa. (BSR [Business for Social Responsibility] News Monitor summary of article in Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2002)

HIV/AIDS: U.N. Releases New Annual Report On Cheapest Drugs - The World Health Organization and other groups released an annual report yesterday intended to help developing nations find the cheapest available medicines for treating HIV/AIDS...Though the prices of many drugs needed for HIV/AIDS care and support including anti-retroviral drugs have been significantly reduced for poor countries, they are still not widely affordable in developing countries, the WHO says (UN Wire, 27 June 2002)

• New survey gives poor countries information on more affordable AIDS drugs (UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and Médecins Sans Frontières, 26 June 2002)

• {···français} Une nouvelle enquête donne aux pays pauvres les informations sur les médicaments les moins coûteux contre le SIDA (UNICEF, ONUSIDA, OMS et Médecins Sans Frontières, 26 juin 2002)

• full report: Sources and prices of selected drugs and diagnostics for people living with HIV / AIDS (UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and Médecins Sans Frontières, May 2002)

HIV/AIDS: U.S., EU Back Easing Of Drug Patent Constraints -...The newspaper [Wall Street Journal] reports U.S. drug makers and, apparently, the Bush administration are supporting a WTO-administered waiver system, with countries obtaining generics on a case-by-case basis, while the EU is for an amendment to the TRIPS pact (UN Wire, 25 June 2002)

Retreat on Fighting Global AIDS -...Washington's contribution to the global fund, which should be on the order of $2.5 billion a year, is about a tenth of that...Washington should also end its campaign to restrict the use of generic drugs to treat AIDS and other diseases...But it [U.S. policy of opposing use of generic drugs for treating AIDS] does reflect the wishes of the drug companies — several of which sponsored a $30 million fund-raiser Wednesday night for Republican candidates at which President Bush spoke. (editorial, New York Times, 21 June 2002)

• HIV/AIDS: New York Times Slams New Bush Initiative -...The Times blames political opportunism, saying the president's initiative "does reflect the wishes of the drug companies -- several of which sponsored a $30 million fundraiser Wednesday night" for candidates from Bush's Republican party (UN Wire, 21 June 2002)

A Medical Journal Eases Conflict Rule - The New England Journal of Medicine is relaxing its strict conflict-of-interest rules for authors of certain articles because it cannot find enough experts without financial ties to drug companies. (Associated Press, in New York Times, 13 June 2002)

GM, IBM, Kinko’s Announce Green Power Initiatives - General Motors Corporation, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Kinko's, Inc. have announced renewable-energy projects as part of the Green Power Market Development Group, a commercial and industrial partnership dedicated to building corporate markets for green power...The Green Power Market Development Group was launched by World Resources Institute and Business for Social Responsibility in August 2000. (GreenBiz.com, 11 June 2002)

New Report Assesses the Status of Corporate Social Responsibility: Echo Research reports on how corporate social responsibility is increasingly important for global corporations, and rates how CSR is being incorporated into business practices -...Ford and BP topped Echo's CSR Perception Index for the second year in a row. IBM and GlaxoSmithKline rounded out the top four this year. Echo applauded Ford's "Time Budget" program, which encourages employees to advance CSR initiatives, and BP's integration of social reporting into its business model. IBM earned high ranking due to its promotion of education, while GlaxoSmithKline distinguished itself as the most prominent CSR practitioner in the pharmaceutical industry. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 6 June 2002)

Aventis reawakens the war on sleeping sickness - It is a year since pharmaceutical company Aventis committed $25 million to the World Health Organization's fight against sleeping sickness, a disease that threatens the lives of 60 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and progress is already being made. (International Chamber of Commerce, 3 June 2002)

Journalists List Corporations Found Guilty of Crimes throughout the 1990s - A simple list of corporate crimes, presented along with guilty pleas or fine payments, hints at the pervasiveness of poor corporate ethics...journalists Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman have compiled a list of The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade...The authors point out that six corporations--Exxon (now ExxonMobil), Rockwell International, Royal Carribbean Cruises, Warner-Lambert (now part of Pfizer), Teledyne, and United Technologies--appear more than once on the list. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 29 May 2002)

• Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade [includes full list] (Russell Mokhiber, 1999)

• Annotated list of the top 100

• Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, in Mother Jones, 7 Sep. 1999)

HIV/AIDS: Zimbabwe Lifts Import Restrictions On Drugs - Zimbabwe's Justice Ministry has invoked emergency powers and officially lifted import restrictions on drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment, allowing generic forms to enter the country without lengthy testing and registration procedures. (UN Wire, 29 May 2002)

VACCINES: UNICEF Chief Warns Of Global Shortage -...The Globe and Mail reports the root of the problem is an ongoing pharmaceutical industry shakeup, with mergers leading to the cancellation of production of relatively unprofitable childhood vaccines. Another factor is that since countries commit funds to UNICEF one year at a time, the agency can sign only one-year contracts with vaccine providers. (UN Wire, 28 May 2002)

• Shrinking supply of basic vaccines alarms Unicef chief (André Picard, Globe and Mail [Canada], 28 May 2002)

• Brazil says tames AIDS -...But Brazil has also enraged the pharmaceutical industry with its policy of developing copies of patented drugs and using the copies as bargaining chips -- without putting the drugs on the market -- to force big firms to slash prices. (Reuters, 21 May 2002)

• {···português} Redução de casos de aids em 2001 chegou a 25% [Brasil] (Sandra Sato, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 21 maio 2002)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation to Bar GlaxoSmithKline Sales Reps from Outpatient Facilities Over Drug Pricing For Developing World - GlaxoSmith Kline, which is the largest producer of HIV/AIDS medications, charges twice as much for their drugs in the developing world as all other HIV pharmaceutical companies. In addition, GSK does not make major charitable donations to aid people with AIDS in the developing world. (AIDS Healthcare Foundation, 21 May 2002)

• company website: GlaxoSmithKline in Global Partnership with HIV/AIDS Communities (GlaxoSmithKline)

• company website: Global Community Partnerships (GlaxoSmithKline)

HEALTH: Research Benefits the Few, Overlooks Prevailing Diseases - A sharp imbalance continues between the resources earmarked for researching diseases predominant in the industrialised world and for those prevalent in poor countries, but experts and activists are confident that the disparity can be reduced. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 20 May 2002)

Gates' charity shifts policy - Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and a recent global health campaigner, has invested $205m in nine large pharmaceutical companies. The investment has been made through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation...Investment in drugs firms could leave the foundation open to criticism. (David Teather, Guardian [UK], 18 May 2002)

POLIO: Wyeth Gives $1 Million For Eradication In Africa - Drug maker Wyeth today contributed $1 million to help the Polio Eradication Private Sector Campaign's Global Polio Laboratory Network eradicate polio in African countries still affected by the disease. (UN Wire, 13 May 2002)

MALARIA: Bayer, WHO Agree On Developing Inexpensive Vaccine - German drug maker Bayer yesterday said it has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization to develop an affordable malaria vaccine for use in developing countries. (UN Wire, 8 May 2002)

HIV/AIDS: IAVI, Swedish Firm Cooperate On Vaccine Research - Swedish biotechnology firm Bioption AB and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative yesterday announced a partnership to develop and test new HIV/AIDS vaccines to target HIV subtypes common in developing countries (UN Wire, 7 May 2002)

• Sweden's Bioption, IAVI partnering to develop globally accessible AIDS vaccines (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, 6 May 2002)

LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS: Glaxo Reaches 100 Million Donated Drug Doses [announcement made at meeting of Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis partners, including WHO and GlaxoSmithKline] (UN Wire, 3 May 2002)

• "The Global Alliance for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis is a reflection of what partnerships should be about..." said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization. "...the role of the partners does not stop at providing resources but goes beyond to help endemic countries to advance self-sustainable lymphatic filariasis elimination programmes." (World Health Organization, 2 May 2002)

• {···français} «L’Alliance mondiale pour l’élimination de la filariose lymphatique est un modèle de partenariat...» a déclaré le docteur Gro Harlem Brundtland, Directeur général de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé. «...le rôle des partenaires ne se limite pas à donner des ressources mais va au-delà en aidant les pays à instituer des programmes autosuffisants d’élimination de la filariose lymphatique.» (Organisation mondiale de la Santé, 2 mai 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Kenya Moves To Import, Make Cheap Drugs - A Kenyan law allowing generic and other inexpensive anti-retroviral HIV/AIDS drugs to be imported into Kenya and manufactured in the country came into effect yesterday. Drug companies blasted the country, but aid agencies said the move will lead to greatly expanded access to drugs for Kenyans with HIV. (UN Wire, 2 May 2002)

• Cheaper Aids drugs for Kenyans (Ishbel Matheson, BBC News, 1 May 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Jeffrey Sachs Says African Economic Development At Risk - Economic success in Africa does not have a chance unless governments provide the necessary funds to combat the rampant HIV/AIDS pandemic on the continent, renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs told the U.N. Economic and Social Council yesterday. (UN Wire, 2 May 2002)

• Under-funded AIDS fight harms African economies (Reuters, 1 May 2002)

WHO says genetic research could save millions of lives - Genetic research into new medicines could save millions of lives in the developing world within a few years, the World Health Organisation said yesterday...However, the WHO also warned that without greater funding of research into developing country diseases and less patenting of genetic information, these scientific advances could also lead to a widening of inequality between poor and rich nations. (Geoff Dyer, Financial Times, 1 May 2002) 

• Genome research can save millions in developing world: WHO Report Calls for Genetic Medicine Benefits for All (World Health Organization, 30 Apr. 2002)

• {···français} La recherche genomique peut sauver des millions de vies dans les pays en developpement: L'OMS publie un rapport en faveur de la médecine génétique pour tous (Organisation mondiale de la Santé, 30 avril 2002)

• GENOMICS: WHO Says Developing Nations Should Stay Abreast Of Research (UN Wire, 1 May 2002)

Leadership Example: Novo Nordisk: Integrating CSR Into Business Operations - Novo Nordisk [pharmaceutical company based in Denmark] is dedicated to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to sustainability - balancing social and environmental responsibility with economic viability. Their approach began with addressing environmental issues; bioethics, human rights and access to health care in developing countries followed in succession. (BSR Magazine, Business for Social Responsibility, May 2002) 

Men and women of steel take up arms in Aids war [ South Africa] [refers to National Union of Mineworkers commitment to addressing workplace AIDS issues; refers to steps taken by employers: Gold Fields, AngloGold, Matla Coal] (Business Report [South Africa], 30 Apr. 2002)

WOMEN'S HEALTH: Doctors' Federation Launches International Fund - The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) yesterday announced creation of the FIGO Global Fund for Women's Health, aimed at helping to provide women around the world with emergency obstetric care. The Pharmacia Foundation has provided $300,000 for the fund...Pharmacia Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan said FIGO and the Pharmacia Foundation "share the common goal of assuring access to health care for people around the world." (UN Wire, 26 Apr. 2002)

• International Women's Health Organization Starts New Charitable Fund To Improve Health of Women in Developing Countries (FIGO - International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 25 Apr. 2002)

WHO Announcement On Africa Malaria Day Signals Positive Shift In Treatment Policy -...A key barrier to switching to ACT is that it is ten to twenty times more expensive than currently used antimalarials. MSF calls on WHO to identify and validate additional and less expensive sources of artemisinin derivatives. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 25 Apr. 2002)

PRIVATE SECTOR: Researchers Say Quality Care Sacrificed For Profit - The quality of drugs, advice and care sold through the huge, mostly unregulated, private health sector in poor countries is often dangerously low, according to an article in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. (UN Wire, 24 Apr. 2002)

• What can be done about the private health sector in low-income countries? (Anne Mills, Ruairi Brugha, Kara Hanson, & Barbara McPake, in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Vol. 80, No. 4, Apr. 2002)

Kenya Facing Acute Shortages of AIDS Drugs - ...Kimbo [Liza Kimbo of the Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines] says the Kenyan government should end the branded drug companies' monopoly. If generic versions of the drugs were available in Kenya, increased competition would encourage the big five to ensure that stocks do not run out. (Katy Salmon, Inter Press Service, 23 Apr. 2002)

New global fund shows world's resolve to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, Annan says -...To date, industrialized and developing countries, corporations, foundations and individuals have pledged some $1.9 billion to the Fund. (United Nations, 23 Apr. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: WHO Releases Guidelines For Developing World Treatment -...Carmen Perez, pharmaceutical director for the Doctors Without Borders campaign to make drugs more affordable, called the WHO guidelines "a very good victory," which "show[s] that treatment can be done." (UN Wire, 23 Apr. 2002)

• W.H.O. Moves to Make AIDS Drugs More Accessible to Poor Worldwide (Donald G. McNeil Jr., New York Times, 23 Apr. 2002)

• WHO Urges Global Drug Treatment of HIV: Guidelines Issued for Administering Triple Therapy in Developing Countries -...Triple therapy became widely available in wealthy countries in 1996. Since 2000, there has been a rising call to make it available to people in poor and middle-income countries, too. (David Brown, Washington Post, 23 Apr. 2002)

Access to medication in the context of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS - [United Nations] Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/32 -...The Commission on Human Rights...Calls upon States to pursue policies...which would promote...The accessibility to all without discrimination, including the most vulnerable sectors of the population, of such pharmaceuticals or medical technologies and their affordability for all, including socially disadvantaged groups (U.N. Commission on Human Rights, adopted without a vote [by consensus], 22 Apr. 2002)

UN conference backs indigenous peoples drug payout: A global environmental conference last week hammered out guidelines to encourage big business to pay indigenous communities for the right to use native plants to make commercial drugs and cosmetics. (Otti Thomas, Reuters, 22 Apr. 2002)

April 19th 2002 is a bittersweet celebration: AIDS treatment still reaching but a fraction of all those in need (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Apr. 2002)

Waive tax on Aids drugs, says industry [South Africa] - The government could cut the cost of providing HIV/Aids drugs by simply waiving tax on anti-retrovirals, pharmaceutical companies suggested yesterday. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report [South Africa], 19 Apr. 2002)

Domini Social Investments announces 2002 shareholder proposals: Socially Responsible Firm Focuses on Sweatshops and the Environment, Continues Push for Greater Corporate Transparency [refers to resolutions filed and/or dialogue with: Gap; Sears, Roebuck; Disney; McDonald's; Nordstrom; Merrill Lynch; Procter & Gamble; Coca-Cola; Pepsi; Emerson; Cooper Industries; Household International; Johnson & Johnson] (Domini Social Investments, 18 Apr. 2002)

"Current Efforts Meager!" Shareholders Challenge Abbott to Treat AIDS Pandemic in Africa with Affordable Drugs - Calling the company's current AIDS treatment programs "meager", religious and union shareholders are challenging Abbott Laboratories to make life-saving HIV/AIDS medicines accessible and affordable in African countries where AIDS is pandemic. (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, 17 Apr. 2002)

UN moves to curb bio-piracy (Tim Hirsch, BBC News, 17 Apr. 2002)

HIV/AIDS II: Botswana Expands Nationwide Treatment Program -...Botswana expects to spend nearly $200 million during the next three to five years to expand its program, with funding from pharmaceutical-giant Merck and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (UN Wire, 10 Apr. 2002)

British Budget Could Lead to Drugs Dumping, Says Charity: Tax incentives in Britain designed to increase access in developing countries to essential medicines could backfire by giving pharmaceuticals companies a free hand to offload unwanted, dangerous, or inappropriate medicines, according to a leading anti-poverty group [London-based War on Want]. (Penny Dale, OneWorld Africa, 9 Apr. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Highest South African Court Orders Drug Provision - In what the London Independent reports is the end of a long legal battle, the highest court in South Africa last week ordered the government of President Thabo Mbeki to provide the HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine in state hospitals to pregnant women with HIV. (UN Wire, 8 Apr. 2002)

• Mandela attacks Mbeki's failure to recognise nation's Aids crisis [South Africa] -...The latest Tac court victory is a crucial one, because it obliges the government to act on earlier rulings that, among other things, it has a constitutional obligation to try to save children's lives. South Africa's Bill of Rights assures socio-economic as well as legal human rights. (Karen MacGregor, Independent [UK], 5 Apr. 2002)

Firms pushed to disclose their impact on society: A coalition of governments, businesses and public interest groups launched last week a global campaign to encourage companies to issue public reports on their impact on society and the environment [Global Reporting Initiative]...The GRI guidelines are already being followed by more than 110 companies worldwide, including German chemicals group BASF AG, British Telecom, U.S. drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Japanese printer and photocopier maker Canon Inc., French Food group Danone, U.S.-based sports clothing company Nike and South African Breweries Plc. (Irwin Arieff, Reuters, 8 Apr. 2002)

Murder by fake drugs - Time for international action (editorial, British Medical Journal, 6 Apr. 2002)

• Fake drugs pose health danger: Urgent action is needed to stem the growing tide of bogus medications that are either useless or actually cause harm, say doctors. The British Medical Journal [BMJ] says that the international community must act to stop the "murderous" trade...The BMJ says that drug companies have tended to avoid publicising the problem for fear of "damaging public confidence in medicines". (BBC News, 5 Apr. 2002)

Parents of autistic kids sue drug firms, dental groups [USA]: The parents of a group of children with autism this week sued several drug companies and dental associations in the United States for allegedly exposing their kids to the neurological disorder in vaccines and dental fillings containing mercury. The American Dental Association, Georgia Dental Association and drug firms American Home Products Corp., now known as Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Johnson & Johnson and Armour Pharmaceutical were accused of, among other things, negligence in 11 lawsuits filed in an Atlanta court. (Paul Simao, Reuters, 5 Apr. 2002)

{···français} Emploi - Poussées par la justice, des grandes entreprises indemnisent les militants dont la carrière a été pénalisée par leur engagement syndical [France] - Discrimination syndicale les entreprises se rachètent une conduite:...Les exemples de la SNCF et de EDF démontrent une chose que la France ne voulait pas voir : la discrimination syndicale n'est pas uniquement pratiquée dans quelques groupes emblématiques de l'antisyndicalisme comme Citroën et Michelin. La CGT, première organisation à s'être mobilisée sur le sujet, a établi une liste de plus de soixante-dix entreprises «discriminantes». Parmi celles-ci, on trouve le gratin de l'économie française : Renault, Aérospatiale (maintenant EADS), Matra, Thales, Framatome, Snecma, la SNPE, Comurex, Sollac, Ugine, Delphi, mais aussi la RATP, ou encore des PME comme TLD Tracma, près de Tours. (Hervé Nathan, Libération [France], 2 avril 2002)

Broadening the Corporate Commitment to HIV and AIDS [refers to positive steps by Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard, Unilever, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, DaimerChrysler, De Beers] (Business for Social Responsibility, Apr. 2002)

"Great tasks need grand coalitions": Klaus M. Leisinger [Director of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development] on the pharmaceutical industry's responsibilities in development policy (epd-Entwicklungspolitik [epd Development Policy], Apr. 2002)

Bushmen victory over drug firms [South Africa]: They have faced extinction and poverty for hundreds of years, but now the San Bushmen of southern Africa stand to make millions of pounds from a so-called miracle slimming pill being developed by Western drug companies...'It's a lesson to corporations that they can't come in and patent traditional knowledge on plants from local communities and get away with it.' [refers to Pfizer] (Antony Barnett, Observer [UK], 31 Mar. 2002)

• San people demand compensation from pharmaceutical companies: The Mail & Guardian reports that South Africa's Kung tribe are demanding compensation as their ancient knowledge has been "stolen" to produce a slimming miracle drug that is set to take the world by storm. (WildNet Africa, 25 June 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Cheap Drugs Reaching Only A Fraction Of African Sufferers - ...New pricing arrangements offered by five major pharmaceutical manufacturers UNAIDS' Accelerating Access Initiative, launched in May 2000, provide traditional AIDS drugs for as low as 67 cents a day, but the price is still too high for many Africans, whose per capita income is often less than $1 a day. (UN Wire, 29 Mar. 2002)

US reaches cleanup deal at Alabama PCBs site:...Under the settlement, Solutia and Pharmacia have agreed to continue the emergency cleanups of area residences that are the worst contaminated. (Reuters, 26 Mar. 2002) 

HIV/AIDS: Drug Companies Oppose U.N. Approval Of Generics - A group of pharmaceutical companies yesterday criticized the inclusion of generic drugs on a newly issued World Health Organization list of approved HIV/AIDS medicine, arguing that the cheaper drugs could lower treatment quality and even lead to drug-resistant strains...The WHO, however, says the federation's claims are unfounded...Medecins Sans Frontieres expressed support for the WHO's inclusion of generics. (UN Wire, 22 Mar. 2002) 

• Generic AIDS drugs on UN list: In a move that delighted activists campaigning for cheaper AIDS drugs, the World Health Organization on Wednesday made public its first list of drug companies that meet its quality standards, and it included a large Indian generic manufacturer and three smaller European ones. (Donald G. McNeil Jr, New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 21 Mar. 2002)

• Drug manufacturers: approving generic AIDS drugs could reduce quality (Naomi Koppel, Associated Press, 21 Mar. 2002) 

United States announces intent to lodge settlement for comprehensive study of PCB contamination in Anniston, Alabama: Agreement ensures continued, immediate cleanup of worst-contaminated residential areas - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced its intent to lodge on Monday, March 25, 2002, a comprehensive environmental settlement with Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia Corporation, to investigate and address the serious polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contamination in Anniston, Ala. (U.S. Justice Department, 22 Mar. 2002)

Report Diagnoses Ills in the Pharmaceutical Sector: A German rating agency reports that many pharmaceutical companies are failing to follow the example of the sector’s leaders in solving environmental and social problems...The report analyzed the 22 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, based on more than 200 social and environmental criteria...Denmark-based Novo Group and U.S.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb led the class with B grades. U.S.-based Pharmacia received the lowest mark, a C-. (Willliam Baue, SocialFunds.com, 19 Mar. 2002)

Settlement talks in Alabama pollution case fail - WSJ [USA]: The Alabama Supreme Court ordered a halt to settlement talks in a lawsuit against Solutia Inc. , Monsanto Co. and Pharmacia Corp. after a judge threatened to jail company executives, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. (Reuters, 15 Mar. 2002)

Urgent need to kick-start R&D for killer diseases in poor countries: International experts call for new public initiatives and global support - Research and development of new medicines for diseases such as sleeping sickness, kala azar, and malaria that kill millions each year in the developing world is urgently needed, according to a group of 150 international experts meeting in New York this week. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 14 Mar. 2002)

CENTRAL AMERICA: U.N. To Help Region Cut Drug Prices - The United Nations will next month launch a Central American project aimed at reducing the price of medication by improving the region's pharmaceutical industry and economic relations (UN Wire, 14 Mar. 2002)

• Iniciativa para reducir el costo de medicamentos: El Salvador será la punta de lanza de un proyecto que busca aprovechar el importante intercambio en la región (Mario Posada, El Diario de Hoy [El Salvador], 13 de marzo 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Court Orders South Africa To Provide Nevirapine During Appeal - South Africa's High Court in Pretoria yesterday ruled that although the government may appeal the court's December ruling calling for the key HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine to be administered at all suitably equipped state hospitals for HIV-positive pregnant women, the drug must be made available in the meantime. (UN Wire, 12 Mar. 2002)

Big cuts in cancer gases achieved [UK]: The amount of cancer-causing chemicals being released by Britain's biggest factories has fallen by almost 40 per cent over the last three years according to an analysis of official pollution data by Friends of the Earth, published today. But the figures also reveal that over 9,000 tonnes of cancer causing gases are still released. Seventy per cent of the pollution is released by just 10 factories [10 companies owning factories with highest releases of recognised carcinogens, 1998 - 2000: Ineos Chlor, Associated Octel, Glaxo, Carpenter, Ineos Chlor, Acordis Acetate, Recticel Manufacturing, BASF, Vitafoam, Esso Petroleum] (Friends of the Earth, 6 Mar. 2002)

EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Whitman Honors 47 Citizen, Industry, Government Groups for Innovative Efforts to Clean Air [USA]: For their outstanding and innovative efforts in helping clean the nation's air, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today honored 47 local and state governments, industries and citizens groups at the second Annual Clean Air Excellence Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. [companies receiving awards include CSX Transportation, Orbital Engine Corporation, Intel Corporation, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Gibson Technologies, Playa Capital Company, Con Edison, Merck] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 5 Mar. 2002)

Prison Blues; Starbucks, Nike, others profit from inmate labor [at U.S. prisons] - A partial list of companies that have worked within the prison system, directly employed prison workers, or contracted with companies that employ prison workers, either currently or in the past: Allstate, Best Western, Dell Computer, Eddie Bauer, Hawaiian Tropical Products, J. C. Penney, Kmart, Kwalu Inc., Konica, Lockhart Technologies, McDonald's, Merrill Lynch, Microjet, Microsoft, New York, New York Hotel and Casino, Nike, No Fear Inc., Omega Pacific, Parke-Davis, Planet Hollywood, Prison Blues (jeans), Shearson Lehman, Starbucks, Target, TWA, Victoria's Secret, Union Bay, Upjohn, Washington Marketing Group (Erica Barnett, In These Times, 4 Mar. 2002)

Mandela urges free Aids drugs on demand [South Africa] (Lynne Altenroxel, The Star [Johannesburg], 3 Mar. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Drugs Used Properly In Developing World, Studies Show - Triple drug therapy for HIV/AIDS patients works about the same in the developing as in the developed world, researchers reported yesterday. The findings contradict a common argument that multiple HIV/AIDS therapies could do more harm than good in the developing world because they are too difficult for poor countries to implement. (UN Wire, 1 Mar. 2002)

• Third World AIDS Studies Bolster Triple Therapy -...One thing that's certain is that drug prices are extremely important determinants of how widely antiretroviral treatment is used in Africa. (David Brown, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2002)

South African AIDS Activists Go Back to Court: Armed with fresh evidence, South African AIDS activists go to court Friday for the latest round in a long-standing battle to get the government of President Thabo Mbeki to provide all HIV-positive pregnant women with a drug that significantly reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to new-born babies. (Penny Dale, OneWorld Africa, 1 Mar. 2002) 

SAB provides soul support: HIV is the greatest threat to the health of both staff and profits at South African Breweries (Andrew Clark, Guardian [UK], 1 Mar. 2002)

Reporting on the Triple Bottom Line 2001: dealing with dilemmas (Novo Nordisk, Mar. 2002)

• Evaluating our suppliers’ social responsibility [refers to human rights] (Novo Nordisk)
• Helping to ensure the right to health (Novo Nordisk)
• Patents put to the test (Novo Nordisk)
• Novo Nordisk and globalisation (Novo Nordisk)

TRIPS and Public Health: The next battle -...The Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health agreed at the WTO Ministerial in Doha in November 2001 was an important step forward in the campaign for affordable medicines...However, rich-country governments, under pressure from large companies, are backsliding on their promises and seeking to water down potential solutions. (Oxfam, Mar. 2002)

The latest Novo Nordisk Triple Bottom Line report: 'Reporting on the Triple Bottom Line 2001: Dealing with dilemmas' [social/environmental report by Novo Nordisk; includes sections on: globalisation and its implications for business, access to healthcare in developing countries, intellectual property rights, diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace] (Novo Nordisk, Mar. 2002)

Disease toll among world's poorest keeps pressure on drug companies: Infectious diseases are wreaking havoc in the world's poorest regions, but the high cost of medicine and increasing drug resistance is making the tide of death harder to turn, reports the South China Morning Post. Health authorities blame profit-driven pharmaceutical companies based in developed countries, and NGOs in recent months have become increasingly vocal about bringing prices down. The campaign is starting to have some effect, but health workers warn more needs to be done. (Press review, World Bank website, 28 Feb. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: South Africa To Boost Drug Research, Not Offer Universal Access - South Africa said today it will expand research on use of Nevirapine to curb mother-to-child HIV transmission instead of providing immediate universal access to the drug as activists and some opposition figures have asked. Boehringer-Ingelheim, the manufacturer, has offered South Africa free Nevirapine for the next five years. (UN Wire, 22 Feb. 2002)

HIV/AIDS: Megacities Network Announced At U.N. Meeting To Fight Disease - Representatives from 11 cities around the world [Buenos Aires, Mexico City, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Lagos, Bangkok, Peking & Belo Horizonte] announced yesterday the formation of the Megacities Network, a worldwide network to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS [and support universal access to essential medicines]...Buenos Aires delegate Claudio Bloch said...authorities are now negotiating with drug manufacturers to prevent an increase in costs (UN Wire, 21 Feb. 2002)

• {···português} São Paulo, Rio e Belo Horizonte integram rede mundial contra aids: Grupo de 11 cidades fará pressão política para auxiliar o combate à doença (Lígia Formenti, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 21 fevereiro 2002)

• {···português} Como Johannesburgo combate a aids: Seminário sobre a doença em megacidades mostrou a estratégia na África (Lígia Formenti, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 20 fevereiro 2002)

Companies 'face rising risks over human rights': Multinational companies face a growing risk of being associated with human rights violations, according to research published in London yesterday by Amnesty International and the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum. The research examines the operations of 129 leading companies in 34 countries where human rights abuses including torture, forced child labour and denial of freedom of expression occur. (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 13 Feb. 2002)

• full text: Business & Human Rights: A geography of corporate risk - Amnesty International and The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) have collaborated to produce a series of seven detailed world maps, which depict where human rights abuses and violations exist and where leading North American and European multinational companies are at risk of being associated with them. The suite of maps covers the extractive, food and beverages, pharmaceutical and chemical, infrastructure and utilities, heavy manufacturing and defence, and IT Hardware and telecommunications sectors. (Amnesty International UK, and Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, Feb. 2002)

• Atlas pinpoints countries where investment flows despite abuses: A world atlas of countries where multinationals co-exist with regimes inflicting human rights abuse was presented yesterday at the launch of a campaign for ethical investment...The study, the first of its kind, will be used by Amnesty International and the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum to press companies to take account of human rights when making commercial decisions. (Kim Sengupta, Independent [UK], 13 Feb. 2002)

• Atlas warns firms of rights abuses: Campaigners have drawn up a world atlas of human rights violations to alert multinational corporations to the damage that can be caused to their business and reputations by being associated with human rights abuses in countries in which they operate (Guardian [UK], 13 Feb. 2002)

Unhealthy influence: There is a danger that WHO's [World Health Organisation's] new partnership with drug companies will skew its health policies (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 6 Feb. 2002)

Unlikely Note Is Struck on World Finance Stage - Forum: Bill Gates and Bono challenge the Treasury chief and the U.S. to boost foreign aid...The new focus on health and on environmental problems in poor countries by Gates and other wealthy philanthropists--Ted Turner and the Hewlett and Packard families, among others--has been cited by some U.S. opponents of government assistance as a more efficient and focused form of foreign aid. But Gates argued vigorously here for greatly increased aid from the United States and other official donors. (William Orme, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2002)

• Gates and Bono give voice to healthcare lobbyists: Bill Gates, the world's richest man, and Bono, the Irish rock star, joined forces on Saturday to urge governments and the private sector to boost levels of spending on global healthcare and disease prevention. (Holly Yeager & Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times, 2 Feb. 2002) 

World Economic Forum: CEOs Call for Greater Corporate Engagement Against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Leading CEOs from the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative issued an Executive Statement today as a rallying cry to the business community to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. (World Economic Forum, 2 Feb. 2002)

Chiron Corporation and Global Alliance for TB Drug Development Agree on License of PA-824 Compound for New Tuberculosis Therapeutics (Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, 1 Feb. 2002)

Will Minister Bend Or Break? [South Africa] The government looks set to buckle under remorseless internal and external pressures and allow pregnant women country-wide access to the drug that could save their children from HIV/Aids (Belinda Beresford & Jaspreet Kindra, Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 1 Feb. 2002)

Model of success: Universal access to treatment in Brazil - In the mid-1990s, the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MoH) adopted a policy of universal free access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for people with HIV. (id21 Development Research reporting service, Feb. 2002)

Interview with Paulo Costa, President & CEO, Novartis Pharmaceuticals (Ethical Corporation Magazine, Feb. 2002)