| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today joined Representative
Maxine Waters (D-CA) and others in introducing legislation to combat the
worldwide HIV/AIDS crisis. The Affordable HIV/AIDS Medicines for
Poor Countries Act would prohibit the United States government from using
trade policy and other measures to block the efforts of developing nations
to fight HIV/AIDS.
“As
the world’s richest nation, it is a moral imperative for us to do all we
possibly can to address the AIDS pandemic in which millions of people are
dying in sub Saharan Africa and throughout the globe. It is morally reprehensible
for the United States or any other nation to willfully stand in the way
of countries trying to save its people from this pandemic. That is
why we cannot allow our government, in concert with the pharmaceutical
companies, to keep affordable AIDS drugs away from those who need it.
This is not the time to protect drug company profits,” Schakowsky said.
The
Affordable HIV/AIDS Medicines for Poor Countries Act would make it illegal
for the U.S. government to use the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to prevent any developing country
from importing drugs from other countries or producing generic versions
on their own. It would also prohibit any agency of the U.S. government
from using federal funds to seek to revoke any law or policy of a developing
country that promotes access to HIV/AIDS medicines. Furthermore,
this bill would require the U.S. to urge the World Trade Organization (WTO)
to exempt developing countries from the application of provisions of the
TRIPS agreement that restrict their ability to make HIV/AIDS medicines
available to their populations at affordable prices.
TRIPS
is one of the international agreements enforced by the WTO. The TRIPS
agreement allows corporations to benefit from patents over medicines.
Corporations use their patents to force developing countries to pay for
the use of the medicines. As a result of the TRIPS agreement, many
people in developing countries have been denied life-saving medicines because
they cannot afford to pay the exorbitant prices, which range from $4,000
to $20,000 a year. The GNP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa is $503 per
year.
“Seventy
percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa, but
the epicenter of this crisis is creeping towards Asia. If we don’t change
our trade policies that currently protect pharmaceutical company profits,
millions more young boys and girls will grow up without parents.
It’s time for the United States to set an example for the rest of the world,
do what is morally right, and attack this crisis to the real extent that
we are capable,” Schakowsky added.
After
Schakowsky and others criticized U.S. policies of putting politics and
profits ahead of access to affordable HIV/AIDS drugs for nations like South
Africa, the President issued an Executive Order changing U.S. trade policies
regarding HIV/AIDS drugs in sub-Saharan Africa. However, Schakowsky
believes that more must be done in order to ensure that developing countries
are free to pursue access to affordable HIV/AIDS drugs.
Schakowsky
has taken a lead role in Congress on this issue and was successful in adding
an amendment to the World Bank AIDS Marshall Plan Trust Fund Act.
Her amendment expands the objectives of the trust fund to include affordable
HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment and affordable drugs. In addition,
Schakowsky joined the Vice President this year at an unprecedented meeting
of the United Nations Security Council on HIV/AIDS. This was the
first time that the Security Council considered a health epidemic as a
worldwide security threat. |
