BALTIMORE
Drug goliaths: Hands off South Africa!
By Workers World
Baltimore bureau
On March 19 the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to
enact a resolution brought by Councilor Lisa Stancil at the
request of the All-People's Congress. The resolution supports
the South African Treatment Action Campaign and opposes the
racist lawsuit brought against the South African government by
the largest pharmaceutical companies to stop that country from
importing generic medicines.
On March 5, the big drug companies filed suit against South
Africa to stop a new law that would allow that country to
import cheaper generic drugs to treat the AIDS epidemic.
Representatives from the APC and Doctors Without Borders
protested outside City Hall on March 19. Following the protest
they gathered inside the City Council chambers.
Sharon Ceci, an APC member and health-care advocate,
testified in support of the resolution. She said: "Nearly 5
million South African people are living with HIV/AIDS, but few
can afford the drugs that would allow them to manage their
illness. The action of these big drug companies in the name of
'intellectual property rights' amounts to murder."
Ceci added, "Human lives must come before profits. The
concept of intellectual property rights is bogus. Scientific
research and discovery is the collective work of humanity and
should not be withheld while people suffer and die in the name
of profits."
The council suspended its regular rules to immediately adopt
the resolution.
Councilor Stancil recognized the APC, Dr. Lawrence Egbert of
Doctors Without Borders, WEAA Radio's Nzinga Anon and the Rev.
Dr. Mankekolo Mahlangu-Ngcobo from Kalafong A.M.E. Mission
Church, who gathered in the hall to support the resolution.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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