Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - November 13, 2003
WHAT: Press Conference to announce pending lawsuit against GSK and inform people with AIDS & family of those harmed by GSK's illegal AIDS drug access policies in South Africa
WHERE: Durban Hilton Hotel 12-14 Walnut Road Durban South Africa 4001
WHEN: This Morning - Thursday November 13th - 11:00am
DURBAN, South Africa, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Following last month's stunning decision against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) by South Africa's independent Competition Commission, AIDS advocates and the operators of a free AIDS treatment clinic in South Africa will host a press conference this morning, Thursday, November 13th, at 11am at the Durban Hilton in Durban South Africa to announce their plans to file a class action lawsuit against GSK/South Africa. The purpose of the press conference is to discuss the GSK's illegal AIDS drug access policies and to inform people with AIDS who have been harmed and family members of those who have died because they could not access life-saving anti-retroviral medications (ARVs) in South Africa because of GSK's actions of the lawsuit. The AIDS advocates will also ask GSK to establish 1 billion Rand fund for free AIDS drug treatment programs in South Africa.
"We are currently reaching out to people with AIDS, patients and family members of those whose lives have been harmed or lost because of the illegal AIDS drug access policies and anti-competitive actions of GSK in South Africa to join us in our joint action lawsuit against GSK," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President, and a partner in the Ithembalabantu ('people's hope') free AIDS treatment clinic in KwaZulu-Natal. "GSK's lowering of prices in the last year is not a sufficient response to 20 years of overcharging for their drugs. The recent Competition Commission finding against GSK does not negate the individual harm suffered by thousands if not millions of patients in South Africa who have been and remain unable to access AIDS medications because of GSK's illegal and immoral tactics."
"It is impossible to put a price tag on the untold suffering and deaths of millions of South Africans due to AIDS," said Swazi Hlubi, the Executive Director of the Network of AIDS Communities of South Africa (NetCom SA), a partner in the Ithembalabantu Clinic and a founding member of AIDS Therapeutic Treatment Now/South Africa (ATTN/SA). "Now that our Competition Commission has found GSK guilty of charging excessively high prices for their life-saving AIDS drugs and for refusing licenses to generic AIDS drug manufacturers, the weight of many of these deaths and the ongoing pain and suffering of those who cannot access medications falls squarely on GSK. We invite any patients and family members harmed by GSK's policies to consider joining us in this joint action against GSK."
"The timeframe for settlement of our Competition Commission complaint is close at hand," said Musa Ntsibande, an attorney with the South African law firm Strauss Daly Inc., which handled the earlier Competition Commission case and will be filing this new joint action. "This joint action lawsuit against GSK will seek the awarding of damages by the courts to patients or dependants who lost breadwinners to AIDS, who, because of excessive pricing by GSK, were not able to access treatment. With that in mind, we also ask that GSK now do the right thing and set aside 1 billion Rand and earmark the sum for free AIDS treatment programs here in South Africa."
The patients and family members in this joint action against GSK will be represented by the South African law firm Strauss Daly Inc., with attorney Musa Ntsibande serving as chief counsel. [Strauss Daly Inc., 2nd Floor, East Coast Radio House, 313/315 Umhlanga Rocks Drive, Umhlanga, South Africa (031) 570-5600].
Ithembalabantu is the free AIDS treatment clinic sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation/Global Immunity (AHF/GI), an international program of the largest AIDS organization in the United States, in partnership with the Network of AIDS Communities/South Africa (NetCom, SA). The facility opened in September 2001 and first began providing anti-retroviral therapy to patients in February 2002. The clinic currently serves approximately 520 clients; more than 170 of these patients receive anti-retroviral therapy.
AHF Global Immunity -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation, established in 1987, is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS specialty medical service provider in the United States. AHF has founded AHF Global Immunity, which is a non-profit, international initiative of AIDS Healthcare Foundation that works in partnership with local stakeholders to establish replicable, scalable and sustainable models for HIV/AIDS medical services delivery in resource- constrained settings. The mission of AHF Global Immunity is to change the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic by expanding access to life-sustaining ARV treatment for HIV positive people across the globe. AHF-GI work with NetCom and other stakeholders to operate the Ithembalabantu "People's Hope" Clinic in Umlazi Township, the largest HIV/AIDS treatment site in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa. AHF Global Immunity also operates two other free AIDS treatment clinics in the developing world: Uganda, the Uganda Cares Healthcare Center in Masaka, Uganda; and Honduras, the Siempre Unidos Clinic in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. http://www.aidshealth.org .
SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Web Site: http://www.aidshealth.org
031113
PR031125
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