Newsday - Friday, July 12, 2002
Laurie Garrett, Staff Correspondent

Under a banner reading "Leadership Saves Livesö at the 14th International AIDS Conference, they called upon their counterparts worldwide to put the AIDS pandemic at the very top of their political agendas. As they spoke, a digital display ticked off the mounting global HIV toll, which by the evening's end exceeded 43,860,000.

Clinton drew cheers and applause each time he addressed the audience of scientists, physicians and activists to lay out a strategy along the theme that has emerged this week: bridging the gap between the needs of the poor, AIDS-afflicted nations and the concentration of resources and dollars in the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan.

The event was staged by International AIDS Trust, an organization created by Clinton's former White House AIDS adviser Sandra Thurman.

Clinton opened his remarks with a discussion of arm-twisting. He referred to the rock star/humanitarian Bono, saying the singer told him, "æNever presuppose I cannot convince anyone of anything.'ö He then mentioned conservative Sen. Jesse Helms "as an example of what we can do if we never write off anyone.ö

Helms, a North Carolina Republican, recently was converted to the AIDS cause, sponsoring a bill in the Senate that will commit $500 million in the next five years to preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in 12 poor nations.

"I know a lot of you are worn out,ö Clinton told the standing-room-only audience. "But I would like to say there is a greater level of understanding [on this issue] in the political world now than we have ever seen. What should we do? First of all, the rich countries should figure out what they owe and commit to pay up.ö

Clinton instructed the presidents of Rwanda and St. Kitts and Nevis, and the prime minister of Mozambique, that they should draw up HIV battle plans, including treatment and prevention, then submit those plans to wealthy nations. He gave as an example 15 Caribbean nations that collectively negotiated an agreement with major pharmaceutical companies guaranteeing discounted anti-HIV drugs for their people.

"This is a good deal,ö Clinton said. "You should figure out what you can afford, and how much you need to fill the gap. You should come to us and to Canada, and we should fill the gap.ö Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell nodded vigorously.

As president, Clinton failed to persuade Congress to pass an incentive package to encourage drug development aimed at meeting needs of such countries. However, last night he said if the prices for medicines are too high, "my advice is push every drug company to make more deals. If the deals are unsatisfactory, go to Brazil, go to India,ö and purchase generic versions of the drugs. Former Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral said the country has proven "that it is possible to make these drugs for considerably less.ö The country is the leading manufacturer of generic versions of American and European patented drugs, and has brought the cost for a treatment "cocktailö of HIV drugs down from the patented price of about $15,000 a year to $300.

Gujral called for changing the World Trade Organization agreements to shorten drug patents from 20 to five years, and said there should be "no restrictions on the export of these drugsö in generic form.

The most sober reflections were offered by two presidents from Africa. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, where national average life expectancy will by 2010 fall to 38 years because of AIDS, said, "Our people, more than ever, look to us for a sense of vision ... and a sense of promise.ö

Mozambique President Pascoal Mocumbi said his country, torn by famine, floods and rampant AIDS, has not received a penny in aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. He insisted his government has drawn up a plan, so far to no avail.

Spain's Prime Minister Jos Mar a Aznar was not among the heads of state at last night's gathering. The only Spanish official to appear on stage during the week was Celia Villalobos, the minister of health, who was booed off the stage at the opening, presumably for displeasure with the way visa applications were handled for delegates from poor countries. Later in the week she resigned.

Today the conference will close with speeches from Clinton and Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Prize-winning former president of South Africa. Mandela closed the last gathering, held in 2000 in Durban, South Africa, on a note of triumph and hope.
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