Oxfam: The US Must Stop Blocking Access to HIV/AIDS Drugs

Oxfam-America
Thursday, 10 July 2003

As President Bush visits the AIDS Support Organization (or TASO) in Uganda today, Oxfam is calling on the US to allow poor countries to import affordable, generic copies of drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and other public health problems.

Oxfam welcomes President Bush's pledge of $15 billion to Africa to help fight HIV/AIDs and other diseases. However the agency says the Administration is seriously undermining its own generosity by blocking any World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement that could allow poor countries to import low-cost generic drugs to treat HIV/AIDS.

"By blocking negotiations that would give African countries like Botswana and Uganda access to the cheap medicines they so desperately need, the administration is undermining the good of its global AIDS initiative," said Phil Twyford of Oxfam.

Oxfam's research has found that more than 95 percent of the drugs used to treat AIDS patients in Uganda are imported, and 80 percent of these are generics. At one clinic alone, the Joint Clinical Research Center, staff have tripled the number of AIDS patients being treated, by using imported generic anti-retroviral drugs instead of the expensive brand names.

"If access to generic drugs in Uganda is restricted, many clinics will be forced to stop treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS," said Twyford. "This could mean that thousands of people who urgently need these medicines will have to go without."

In 2001 at Doha, all WTO members—including the US—agreed that public health concerns should trump patent rights. But since then, the US has consistently obstructed negotiations to provide access to affordable medicines for poor countries.

Oxfam is calling on the Bush Administration to:

For more information, or to contact Oxfam-America, see their website at: www.oxfamamerica.org