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Extra AIDS Drugs Sent to Latin America Thais Protest High AIDS Drug Price |
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By Rex Wockner
International News Reports Gay Dad Protected by European Court
The European Court of Human Rights December 21 struck down a
Portuguese ruling that had stripped a gay man of his parental
rights because of his sexual orientation.
The Euro court ruled unanimously that the Lisbon Court of Appeal had discriminated against Joao Manuel Salgueiro da Silva Mouta based on his sexuality, and violated his "right to respect for private and family life" as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Portuguese court had said homosexuality is "an abnormality and children must not grow up in the shadow of abnormal situations." Silva Mouta had been allowed to visit his 9-year-old daughter only if he did not reveal to her that he is gay. Portugal has 90 days to appeal the new ruling to a 17-member Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. Extra AIDS Drugs Sent to Latin America
To donate to the New York group, visit www.aidforaids.org. To contribute to the California project, phone (619) 697-9440. Thais Protest High AIDS Drug Price
More than 50 Thai activists staged a three-day protest outside
the public health ministry December 22-25 demanding that the
government license local production of the AIDS drug ddI.
Negotiations with the U.S. company Bristol-Myers Squibb, which holds the patent on the drug, have dragged on too long and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization should invoke international law on "compulsory licensing" and produce ddI itself, the demonstrators said. Bristol-Myers sells the drug for $1.25 a pill in Thailand -- about $150 for a month's supply, which is beyond the reach of most Thais. Protester Paisal Tanut of the HIV Network said generic ddI could be sold for half as much. One in 60 Thais is HIV-positive and 35,412 have died of AIDS. |
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