AFRO-NETS> Alert: Ask Congress to Support Medicines for Developing Countries

[Janet Feldman <kaippg@earthlink.net>]

Alert: Ask Congress to Support Medicines for Developing Countries
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Maxine Waters, Fortney Pete Stark, Dennis Kucinich and Barbara Lee 
have introduced H.R. 2470, the Medicines to Eliminate Diseases in De-
veloping States Act (the MEDDS Act) in the House of Representatives. 
This bill would promote access to affordable medicines for HIV/AIDS 
and other diseases in developing countries. A copy of the Dear Col-
league is included below. Please encourage Members of Congress to co-
sponsor this bill. Thank You!
 
Kathleen Sengstock
Legislative Assistant
Rep. Maxine Waters
2344 Rayburn
Tel.: +1-202-225-2201
 
 
--
June 17, 2003
 
Developing Countries Need Access to Medicine!
 
Dear Colleagues:
 
We are writing to request your co-sponsorship of H.R. 2470, the Medi-
cines to Eliminate Diseases in Developing States Act (the MEDDS Act). 
This bill would promote access to affordable medicines for HIV/AIDS 
and other diseases in developing countries.
 
Access to medicines is severely limited in developing countries. De-
veloping countries cannot afford to purchase medicines at the prices 
charged by pharmaceutical companies. More than 40 million people are 
living with HIV/AIDS world-wide, and over 95% of them live in devel-
oping countries. Yet, the medicines that treat people with HIV/AIDS 
in the United States are unavailable in most developing countries. 
Patients in developing countries with other diseases such as heart 
disease, diabetes and cancer also lack access to life-saving medi-
cines. When medicines are available, they are prohibitively expensive 
for all but the wealthiest elites. When individual developing coun-
tries such as South Africa and Brazil have attempted to make generic 
medicines available to their populations, they faced legal challenges 
from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and multinational pharmaceu-
tical companies.
 
The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health af-
firmed the rights of developing countries to take measures to protect 
public health and promote access to medicines. This declaration was 
adopted by the WTO at the Fourth Ministerial Conference at Doha, 
Qatar, on November 14, 2001. Unfortunately, the implementation of 
this declaration has been delayed while multinational pharmaceutical 
companies -- with the support of the United States Trade Representa-
tive -- manoeuvre to limit its scope. Meanwhile, people in developing 
countries continue to suffer and die from treatable diseases. At 
least 4.5 million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the year-and-a-half 
since the Doha Declaration was adopted.
 
The Medicines to Eliminate Diseases in Developing States Act would 
protect the rights of developing countries to promote access to medi-
cines for HIV/AIDS and other diseases. This bill would require the 
United States to support full implementation of the Doha Declaration 
on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The bill would also make it 
illegal for the United States to initiate WTO proceedings or use fed-
eral funds to attempt to overturn developing country policies that 
promote access to medicines.
 
We urge our colleagues to support the MEDDS Act and allow developing 
countries to make life-saving medicines available to their people. To 
cosponsor the MEDDS Act, please contact Kathleen Sengstock of Con-
gresswoman Waters' staff at +1-202-225-2201.
 
Sincerely,
 
Maxine Waters
Fortney Pete Stark
Member of Congress
 
Dennis Kucinich Barbara Lee
Member of Congress
 
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org
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