 |
|
|
What Happens Now? |
| By John S. James AIDS Treatment News  Several major AIDS organizations in Manhattan were in the disaster
area near the World Trade Center. It appears that everyone in
those offices got out alive, although some lost friends or
relatives. The long-term consequences for the global fight against
AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other major infectious diseases
remain unknown but ominous.
Every day HIV infection alone kills more people than died at the
World Trade Center and other terrorist attacks on September 11
(AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2000 by UNAIDS estimated 3 million
deaths in 2000 -- over 8200 per day -- and the numbers have risen
since then).
But even on September 10 the prospects for worldwide
response did not look good. The epidemic did get media attention
during the previous year. But it was becoming clear that the U.S.
and other rich countries did not have the political will to pay
more than a fraction of the cost of a serious program for
controlling the disease. (The total cost would be about $10
billion per year from the entire world -- about $2 billion from
the U.S. if the cost were shared in proportion to the size of each
country's economy).
The problem wasn't lack of money; in just one
week after the September 11 attack, the U.S. had found and signed
into law $40 billion -- money no one had thought about, let alone
proposed, just seven days before.
We still believe as we did on September 10 that ultimately there
is enough interest and good will in the U.S. to support a
proportional contribution to the money and leadership of an
effective worldwide AIDS and infectious epidemic program. The
central problem is that nobody has found an effective strategy for
dealing with the three fundamental political divisions that have
always blocked an effective response to the epidemic.
1. The international pharmaceutical industry is more interested in
protecting its patent rights than in controlling the epidemic.
Some companies cut prices to some poor countries by 80 to 90
percent when they had to, but then largely washed their hands of
the global problem, leaving prices that will largely remain unused
(except for prevention of mother-to-infant transmission) because
they are still so far beyond reach.
There is no plan that pharmaceutical companies, medical professionals, and
activists can get behind enthusiastically and bring to Congress, international
agencies, foundations, and other decision makers (as they can with
the AIDS Drug Assistance Program for funding treatment for U.S.
patients).
Industry so far has tried to lead an unworkable campaign to
preserve drug patents everywhere, with piecemeal charity for some
poor countries -- negotiated between each country and company,
revocable any time, and with secret political quid pro quo.
What could work instead is to preserve drug patents in rich countries
while relaxing them in poor ones where there is no significant
market anyway, then pushing for global funding for systematic bulk
purchases, which can and should be profitable to the patent
holders (we want them with us when going to funders).
But there is much concern about what kinds of activism will or will not be allowed
in the future -- especially in view of the major efforts to make big
changes in laws in days, with little or no chance for public discussion
or input (for fact sheets and other information, see: http://www.aclu.org;
for recent Web links, see http://www.indymedia.org
-- especially the 'IMC News Blast' or other edited summaries on that
site).
Yet there has also been more solidarity among Americans in the
week and a half since the disaster -- from willingness to help
those affected, to expressions of patriotism, to activism for
peace, to people being less isolated from each other in everyday
life.
No one can predict what will happen. There is no U.S. precedent
for the attack of September 11 -- and few attacks in any country
with so many killed and so little warning. We can only do our best
work each day.
AIDS Treatment News Published twice monthly Subscription and Editorial Office: 1233 Locust St., 5th floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 800/TREAT-1-2 toll-free email: aidsnews@critpath.org useful links: http://www.aidsnews.org/ Editor and Publisher: John S. James Associate Editor: Tadd T. Tobias Statement of Purpose: AIDS Treatment News reports on experimental and standard treatments, especially those available now. We interview physicians, scientists, other health professionals, and persons with AIDS or HIV; we also collect information from meetings and conferences, medical journals, and computer databases. Long-term survivors have usually tried many different treatments, and found combinations that work for them. AIDS Treatment News does not recommend particular therapies, but seeks to increase the options available. AIDS Treatment News is published 24 times per year, on the first and third Friday of every month, and print copies are sent by first class mail. Email is available (see below). Back issues are available at http://www.aidsnews.org/ To subscribe, you can call 800-TREAT-1-2 or 415-255-0588: |
© 1997-2002 BEI