AEGiS-AP: Activists Protest U.S. on AIDS Drug

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Activists Protest U.S. on AIDS Drug

The Associated Press - Thursday, October 07, 1999
Jennifer Andes, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 200 AIDS activists blocked traffic outside the office of Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky on Wednesday to protest against U.S. policies they say defeat developing countries' efforts to get AIDS drugs. Fourteen were arrested.

Members of the group ACT UP held signs, chanted slogans and tied up traffic outside Barshefsky's office on 17th Street about a block from the White House.

They accused Barshefsky of supporting U.S. pharmaceutical companies by using the threat of economic sanctions to prevent developing countries from producing generic drugs vital in the fight against AIDS.

"I just don't think that's an accurate picture," said Tom Tripp, a spokesman with the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

"You have to recognize there's a complementary relationship between issues like public health policy and the protection of intellectual property rights," Tripp said, which include patent agreements. "It's not one or the other; you have to work them together."

Demonstrators contended the U.S. government supports large pharmaceutical companies who want to maintain high prices for drugs. The mix of drugs necessary for AIDS patients is too expensive for most residents of developing countries, said Julie Davids, a spokeswoman with ACT UP.

The organization had been demonstrating for months against U.S. policies toward South Africa after that country passed a law giving itself unspecified power to import AIDS drugs from counties where they are sold more cheaply or to license production within South Africa.

The United States was pressuring South Africa to amend the 1997 law but backed down last month after South Africa signed an agreement not to implement it in a way that would violate patent rights or other world trade rules.

Vice President Al Gore had urged trade officials to work out some kind of deal with South Africa after ACT UP protesters started dogging him at public appearances, including political events promoting his 2000 presidential bid.

Now, activists say, the trade office is still restricting other developing countries from getting affordable lifesaving medicines. "Saving lives in Thailand, Brazil and India is just as vital as saving lives in South Africa," Chris Kimmenez of ACT UP said in a statement before the protest.
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