[e-med] Communiqué conjoint d'Act Up, GNP+ et l'EATG sur l'instrumentalisation de l'accès aux médicament par l'OMC pour tenter de sauver la face?

["Gaëlle Krikorian" <galk@free.fr>]

Communiqué conjoint d'Act Up, GNP+ et l'EATG sur  
l'instrumentalisation de l'accès aux médicament par l'OMC pour tenter  
de sauver la face…

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Wim Vandevelde <wim-vandevelde@usa.net>
> Date: December 15, 2005 8:46:53 PM EST
> To: <stopwtoround@yahoogroups.com>, <wto- 
> intl@listserver.citizen.org>, <ip-health@lists.essential.org>,  
> <worldpoplist@eurongos.org>, <road-to-hong-kong@lists.iatp.org>,  
> <internationaltreatmentpreparedness@yahoo.org>, <members@eatg.org>,  
> <eatg-press@eatg.org>, <gatforum@yahoogrupos.com.br>
> Subject: [Ip-health] PRESS RELEASE: WTO uses AIDS patients to cover  
> up development round failure
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 2005
>
> ACT UP PARIS
>
> THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS
>
> THE EUROPEAN AIDS TREATMENT GROUP
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> WTO uses AIDS patients to cover up development round failure
>
> The amendment to the TRIPS-agreement hailed by WTO members fails to  
> ensure
> access to affordable medicines, say international AIDS organizations.
>
>
> (Hong Kong, Friday 16 December 2005) By making permanent the waiver  
> adopted
> August 30th, 2003, WTO is blocking access to affordable medicines for
> countries with little or no production capacity. These countries  
> will be
> denied the possibility of importing generic medications from  
> countries with
> production capacity. Moreover, by removing incentives for  
> manufacturers,
> generic production of recent and future medicines (including the  
> most needed
> second-line AIDS treatment) will be strongly discouraged.
>
>
> Health experts worldwide have denounced the TRIPS amendment as a  
> bad deal,
> which will cripple an effective response to public health needs.  
> “How can a
> system that requires order-by-order, drug-by-drug, country-by-country
> procedures be seen as an improvement?” says Mauro Guarinieri, chair  
> of the
> Global Network of People living with HIV and AIDS (GNP+).
>
> Pascal Lamy, WTO Director-General, Peter Mandelson, EU Trade  
> Commissioner, Rob
> Portman, US Trade Representative, and Harvey Bale, director of the
> International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, all  
> herald the TRIPS
> amendment as a great success, claiming it is proof of the WTO  
> taking into
> account the needs of developing countries.
>
> In reality the WTO’s decision of December 6th introduces in the  
> agreement a
> cumbersome and more restrictive mechanism than the already existing
> flexibilities. The amendment goes against the primacy of health  
> over trade, a
> principle that was unanimously approved in Doha by the same WTO.
>
>
> AIDS organizations worldwide denounce the hypocrisy and gross  
> exploitation of
> people’s needs and rights to health under the new agreement.
>
> “Pascal Lamy and others wanted to make sure the issue was off the  
> table
> before Hong Kong. And to use it to cover up the fact that the  
> current talks a
> complete failure,” says Wim Vandevelde, board member of the  
> European AIDS
> Treatment Group.
>
> The countries endorsing this amendment include the same which  
> committed to
> universal access to antiretrovirals by 2010. “What these countries are
> showing here is complete schizophrenia” says Guarinieri. “With this
> amendment they go against the grain of their earlier commitments.  
> Moreover,
> some of them are also engaging in bilateral TRIPS+ negotiations,  
> pushing for
> more restrictive provisions than those actually required by TRIPS.”
>
>
> “This is the same scenario we witnessed in Cancun where developing  
> countries
> were caving in on health in the hope of getting benefits in other  
> areas,”
> says Khalil Elouardighi of ACT-UP Paris. “Benefits the developing  
> countries
> never received.”
>
> WTO Members have until Dec. 1, 2007, to ratify the amendment by two  
> thirds of
> its 149 members. This means that members still have the right to  
> object and
> revoke this unfortunate, harmful and hasty decision.
>
> AIDS organizations urge countries to make sure the primacy of  
> health is not
> undermined by the current solution, to protect their citizens’  
> legitimate
> aspiration to enjoy full access to life-saving medications, and to  
> turn down a
> solution that only serves the interests of rich countries and of the
> pharmaceutical companies.
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> NOT FOR PUBLICATION:
> Contact information: More information, questions or quotes? Please  
> contact
> Martin Stolk (GNP+) at +31-20-423 4114 or mstolk@gnpplus.net. All  
> the material
> in this release may be reproduced freely, when GNP+, ACT-UP and  
> EATG are
> mentioned as source.
>
> In Hong Kong: please contact Mauro Guarinieri (GNP+) at +39 347  
> 9631837 or Wim
> Vandevelde (EATG) at + 852 61 40 32 52 or +351 917275243
>
> Background information:
>
> The Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) is a  
> global network
> for and by people with HIV/AIDS. The mission of GNP+ is to work to  
> improve the
> quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. GNP+ achieves its  
> mission
> through advocacy, capacity building, and communications programs  
> that draw
> from strategies based on: ADVOCATING for Inclusion, Visibility,  
> Access,
> Rights; LINKING by Networking, Mentorship, Dialogue, Education;  
> SHARING of
> Capacities, Knowledge, Strength, Resources.
>
> Act-UP Paris is an organisation rooted in the gay and lesbian  
> communit. Act-Up
> aims to defend the rights and interest of all people living with  
> HIV/AIDS.
> Act-Up is an activist group with a strong lobby, that does not shun  
> miliant
> actions.
>
> The European Aids Treatment Group (EATG) is a co-operative  
> structure of people
> from different nationalities and communities affected by HIV in  
> Europe. Its
> mission is to enable people with HIV or at risk of HIV infection  
> and their
> advocates to provide significant input into the process of  
> developing, testing
> and approving HIV treatments and to advocate for changes in  
> legislation and
> patent law as well as for the medical evaluation of generic  
> medicines. In
> reaching its objectives the EATG has committed itself to be  
> democratic,
> accountable, transparent and accessible to people living with HIV  
> and their
> advocates.
>
>
>
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