As drug companies sue
South Africa provides free AIDS meds to mothers
By Elijah
Crane
On March 5, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association
and 39 transnational pharmaceutical companies brought the South
African government to court in Pretoria. The purpose of their
case is to block a 1997 law passed in South Africa that would
allow access to generic versions of AIDS medications cheaper
than those produced by drug giants like Glaxo-SmithKline and
Bristol Myers Squib.
At the same time, AIDS activists in nine countries and five
U.S. cities took to the streets for a Global Day of Action
initiated by Global Treatment Access Campaign. Protesters
demanded that the pharmaceutical giants immediately drop their
racist lawsuit.
In Pretoria, over a thousand people marched against the big
drug companies. Dozens were arrested.
More than 200 people marched in New York City, rallying at
the local offices of pharmaceutical corporations. They chanted,
"Pills cost pennies, greed costs lives!"
Similar actions were held in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Berkeley
and Boston.
Nearly 20 percent of the adult population of South Africa is
infected with AIDS--4.2 million people. More than 400,000 South
Africans have died of AIDS-related illnesses.
President Thabo Mbeki and the South African government are
now considering declaring the AIDS epidemic a national state of
emergency. This is a sure-fire way to gain full access to AIDS
medications by importing or even producing generic versions of
the "innovator" drugs.
On March 8 an Indian pharmaceutical company, Cipla,
requested a license from the South African government to import
generic versions of eight anti-retrovirals and other AIDS
drugs. Cipla is seeking non-exclusive licenses under South
Africa's intellectual property laws on the grounds that the
patent-holding manufacturers are abusing their copyright.
Cipla previously offered to make the "Cameron cocktail" of
stavudine, 3TC and nevirapine available for $350 a year to the
aid organization Doctors Without Borders and $600 to
governments in developing countries.
Kenya is also introducing legislation to import generic AIDS
drugs.
Drug companies made sales of more than $315 billion in 2000.
This is more than the gross domestic product of all 12
countries in the Southern African Development Community,
according to the Global Treatment Access Campaign web site.
And yet even under pressure from organizations and
activists, the best offer pharmaceutical companies such as
Merck, Inc., have made is to sell the pills for $2 a day.
But this is only part of the full cocktail required in a
daily anti-HIV regimen. The total cost would still amount to
almost $1,500 per year, per person at those rates--a staggering
and unaffordable cost for most African people.
While the media and pharmaceutical mega-corporations put
forth a racist attack against President Mbeki, blaming him for
the crisis, South Africa continues to make provisions to
advance its health care system.
The South African government has initiated a program to
provide free anti-HIV medicine to pregnant women. The drug
nevirapine helps prevent transmission of HIV from mother to
baby.
According to a Feb. 18 New York Times article, "United
Nations officials say [South Africa] will run one of the
largest anti-AIDS drug distribution programs in Africa."
The remaining challenge is that while the rate of HIV
infection will likely decrease in newborns as a result of
preventing transmission during childbirth, mothers with HIV
remain untreated and lack access to affordable medications.
Cuba extends solidarity
Among the many attacks on Africa is the claim that due to a
lack of infrastructure Africa would not be able to distribute
the anti-HIV medications even if they were more accessible.
Yet Africa's underdevelopment is a result of centuries of
colonial exploitation and imperialist plunder. Sub-Saharan
Africa was carved up by Britain, France, Germany and Belgium
and robbed of its rich natural resources while the U.S. stole
its people for slavery.
However, the people of Africa have a long history of
struggle against imperialist invasion and domination. And as
demonstrated by social programs such as those that provide free
medicine to pregnant women, African leaders do not lack
commitment in the fight against AIDS.
While corporations from the richest countries in the world
take the government of South Africa to court to block the
delivery of medicine, doctors from the tiny socialist island of
Cuba stand ready to help build the infrastructure to distribute
the much-needed AIDS medications.
In a speech in New York in September 2000, Fidel Castro said
that Cuba is ready to send 2,000 doctors to Africa to help
build its medical infrastructure. This is over and above the
thousands of doctors that Cuba has already sent to Africa and
the African doctors who have been trained in Cuba.
Cuba provides this medical and humanitarian assistance to
Africa as an act of solidarity, without any profit motive. This
illustrates the very stark contrast between a capitalist and
socialist approach to a public health emergency on a global
scale.
The U.S. ruling class has gotten rich off the stolen labor
and resources of the African people. Imagine how much could be
done to solve the AIDS crisis if the imperialists finally paid
long-overdue reparations to Africa.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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