Bay Area Reporter - April 20, 2001
Liz Highleyman

Topping the agenda will be discussion of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement which, if passed, would extend trade rules similar to those of the North American Free Trade Agreement throughout the hemisphere. FTAA opponents claim such an agreement would favor corporations at the expense of social services, working people, and the environment. Canada is preparing for the protests by mounting the largest security operation in the country's history.

Although the draft text of the FTAA agreement has not been released to the public, it is expected that the agreement will include restrictions limiting the production of low-cost generic equivalents of patented drugs. Advocates for drug access will take part in the protests in Quebec City, and several groups have already begun to hold actions calling attention to the issue.

On April 12, as 20 supporters gathered outside, six advocates for AIDS drug access met with members of the Brazilian Consulate in downtown San Francisco. The activists - representing ACT UP/East Bay, Global Exchange, the International Forum on Globalization, the Black Coalition on AIDS, and the HealthGAP Coalition - expressed their support for Brazil's national AIDS care program. The country provides treatment at low or no cost for all Brazilians with AIDS, and has succeeded in reducing AIDS deaths by 50 percent. Such a program is possible because Brazil locally manufactures inexpensive versions of patented anti-HIV drugs, a practice that has pitted the country against global pharmaceutical companies and the governments of developed nations including the U.S.

Brazil currently manufactures generic equivalents of eight AIDS drugs, and has declared its intention to produce more - including nelfinavir and efavirenz - if drug companies do not reduce their prices to affordable levels.

Protest organizers said the action was a "positive show of support" for Brazil's success in combating AIDS despite legal pressure from U.S. trade officials and pharmaceutical companies." The Bay Area delegation applauded Brazil "for its commitment to placing the health and well-being of its people above the economic interests of outside multinational corporations seeking to profit from the AIDS pandemic." The action was also a protest against Merck and 38 other global pharmaceutical companies that are suing the South African government over a law that permits local production of generic drugs; the lawsuit was scheduled to resume on April 18.

According to John Iversen of ACT UP/East Bay, who attended last Thursday's meeting, the consulate staff members were "very friendly," and came outside to shake the hands of demonstrators and thank them for their support.

On the other side of the country on the same day, over 500 activists held a spirited protest outside the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. The demonstration was billed as a "going away party" for both activists and government trade negotiators headed to Quebec. According to Paul Davis of ACT UP/Philadelphia, "We're sending off Robert Zoellick and the trade negotiators with the understanding that there is a price to pay if they interfere with poor countries that are manufacturing AIDS drugs."

Added fellow ACT UP member John Bell, "This trade pact threatens the rights of HIV-positive people in impoverished nations to obtain the medicine they need to survive. The health and survival of people in North and South America must be put before the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical industry."

Mirroring the coalition that came together to oppose a meeting of the World Trade Organization in November 1999, the Washington, D.C. protest included AIDS and healthcare activists, union members, environmentalists, and students. While police sources said there was some "jostling" between activists and officers, there were no reported arrests or injuries.

FTAA opponents claim that the agreement will increase patent protections and make it harder for poor countries to access life-saving drugs. The current WTO trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) agreement contains provisions for compulsory licensing and parallel importing, which allow poor countries facing a national medical emergency to manufacture generic versions of patented drugs or to import drugs from the cheapest global source. At a pre-summit meeting in Buenos Aires recently, the U.S. proposed extending patents beyond their current 20-year life span, restricting the use of clinical trial data, and limiting compulsory licensing. The FTAA agreement could also give drug companies the right to sue governments that interfere with their ability to profit from patented drugs, and could promote the privatization of public health services.

Activists said they plan more protests soon against trade policies that limit access to affordable drugs. Said ACT UP/Philadelphia's Brenda Wheeler, "Robert Zoellick can be certain to find thousands of people with AIDS and their allies in his face until he takes every possible step to protect poor countries efforts to increase access to medicine."

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