AEGiS-WSJ: Chirac: U.S. AIDS-Drug Stance Is 'Tantamount to Blackmail'

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Chirac: U.S. AIDS-Drug Stance Is 'Tantamount to Blackmail'

Wall Street Journal - July 13, 2004
Joseph Schuman, joseph.schuman@wsj.com

Differences over U.S. global AIDS policies risked provoking a new diplomatic feud today, as French President Jacques Chirac accused the Bush administration of unduly pressuring developing countries to give up the right to make generic HIV drugs.

Joining a debate with echoes from the quarrels over Iraq, Mr. Chirac suggested at the International AIDS Conference in Thailand that the U.S. is trying to get around World Trade Organization rules that give developing countries the flexibility to ignore foreign patents and produce copies of expensive drugs in times of health crises. The rules don't prevent countries from imposing patent restrictions in a bilateral trade agreement, and the Bush administration is said to be doing just that with one it is negotiating with Thailand. Forcing a developing country "to drop these measures in the framework of bilateral trade negotiations would be tantamount to blackmail," Mr. Chirac said. "We should implement the [WTO] generic drug agreement to consolidate price reductions ... What is the point of starting treatment without any guarantee of having quality and affordable drugs in the long term?" A U.S. official, speaking on anonymity to the Associated Press, called Mr. Chirac's allegations "nonsense," and said the trade agreements will conform to WTO rules allowing poor countries to make generic drugs.

The Bush administration's $15 billion package of AIDS funding does allow money to be spent on generic antiretroviral medicine in African countries and elsewhere, but only if it is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which so far has only approved branded versions of the drugs. Some recent studies have provided evidence about the efficacy of such generic drugs, and the FDA said in May that it would fast-track its reviews of any applications for any related treatments. Also at the conference, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Washington to play a larger role in the global fight against AIDS as it has in the fight against terrorism. "We hear a lot about weapons of mass destruction, we hear a lot about terrorism. And we are worried about weapons of mass destruction because of the potential to kill thousands. Here we have an epidemic that is killing millions," he said in an interview with the BBC. "We really do need a leadership. America has a natural leadership capacity because of its resources, because of its size."

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