In a letter, the members urged the President to use his authority under current law to give the World Health Organization (WHO) the right to use HIV/AIDS patents held by the U.S. government.

"We respectfully ask that the Administration enter into negotiations with the WHO to expand access to medical inventions for which the U.S. government holds intellectual property rights.  The WHO is an appropriate entity since it has the knowledge to determine whether the necessary local health care delivery systems are in place to ensure prescription drugs and medical products are distributed and used effectively," they wrote. 

"We believe strongly that these publicly-financed products should be accessible to consumers both in the United States and in other countries…the United States government has the authority to provide international agencies with royalty-free rights to health care products where our government holds the rights to those inventions," they continued.

A copy of the letter to the President is attached.
 

                                                    October 14, 1999
 

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20500

Dear President Clinton:

Your Administration has taken significant steps to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, both here and abroad.  We believe, however, that there is more that can and must be done to address the worldwide pandemic affecting more than 33 million adults and children, 22.5 million of them in Africa.  We request that you use existing authority to give the World Health Organization (WHO) the right to use HIV/AIDS patents where the United State government has rights to those inventions. 

Great progress has been made in developing products to treat HIV and AIDS.  Many of those products were developed with taxpayer funding, through the National Institutes of Health and grants to universities and businesses.  We believe strongly that these publicly-financed products should be accessible to consumers both in the United States and in other countries.  Unfortunately, without prompt and decisive action, HIV/AIDS drugs will remain unaffordable and unavailable for millions. 

Under 35 USC Sec. 202(c)(4) of the Bayh-Dole Act and 37 CFR 404.7, the United States government has the authority to provide international agencies with royalty-free rights to health care products where our government holds the rights to those inventions.  We believe that this authority should be used to enter into an agreement with the World Health Organization so that it can provide affordable access to HIV/AIDS drugs and products that treat other infectious diseases.  The WHO is an appropriate entity since it has the knowledge to determine whether the necessary local health care delivery systems are in place to ensure prescription drugs and medical products are distributed and used effectively. 

We respectfully ask that the Administration enter into negotiations with the WHO to expand access to medical inventions for which the U.S. government holds intellectual property rights.  Without such action, treatment opportunities will continue to be missed because individuals and countries simply cannot afford them.  We must use every tool at our disposal to help the millions of children and adults already infected with HIV/AIDS and to prevent the further spread of this and other infectious diseases.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue and for your attention to our request.

                        Jan Schakowsky, M.C.               Maxine Waters, M.C.
 

                    Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., M.C.                Barbara Lee, M.C.