Sonya Ross: Black Caucus official criticize AIDS Activists, side with Gore

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

The Vice President's office has the Black Caucus backing him up.
Jamie

http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_package.html?FRONTID=SCIENCE&PACKAGEID=aids


    JUNE 30, 02:44 EDT

    Gore Faces S. Africa AIDS Dilemma 

    By SONYA ROSS
    Associated Press Writer 

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Al Gore is caught in a clash
between AIDS activists seeking cheap generic drugs for South
African victims of the disease and U.S. laws intended to protect
drug companies from having their patents violated abroad. 

    Gore, wary of appearing to be siding with the drug industry
in an emotion-laden dispute, wrote to the Congressional Black
Caucus' chairman that he does not oppose South Africa's attempts
to produce or obtain generic AIDS medicines as long as those
efforts do not violate laws protecting patents. 

    Gore acted after demonstrators from the group ACT-UP began
showing up at his campaign rallies, saying Gore was siding with
pharmaceutical companies at the expense of Africans with AIDS. It
created a policy dilemma for Gore, and aides worried it would
haunt his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

    ``I want you to know from the start that I support South
Africa's efforts to enhance health care for its people,'' Gore
wrote in last Friday's letter to Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. ``I
support South Africa's effort to provide AIDS drugs at reduced
prices through compulsory licensing and parallel importing, so
long as they are carried out in a way that is consistent with
international agreements.'' 

    ``What does that mean?'' asked Dr. Peter Lurie, an activist
with Public Citizen who has performed AIDS research in South
Africa. He said if Gore is saying that South Africa's law was
inconsistent with international law, ``then this letter means
absolutely nothing.'' 

    Gore's letter was prompted by a letter last Thursday from
Clyburn, who chairs the black caucus. He asked Gore to state
clearly the position he took with South African President Thabo
Mbeki regarding South Africa's Medicines Act. 

    Donna Christian-Green, the Virgin Islands' elected delegate
to Congress, had heard AIDS activists' claims that Gore was
helping pharmaceutical companies thwart South Africa's efforts to
bypass U.S. patent laws so it could get AIDS medicines at a lower
cost. 

    ``All of us got a bit concerned. We thought we generally were
on the same page with him on this issue,'' Clyburn said. He said
he thought the AIDS activists had unfairly targeted the vice
president, and now feels ``my suspicions as to what this was all
about seem to have been well-placed.'' 
    Chris Lahane, a Gore spokesman, said, ``This is one of those
situations where emotions are obscuring what the real information
is. The vice president supports efforts to provide South Africa
with AIDS drugs at reduced prices. He's working to create a
framework to make that happen.'' 

    Christian-Green, a family physician for 21 years, said the
caucus was satisfied with Gore's explanation. ``We would hate to
have the ACT-UP groups turn voters away from a person who would
be a good candidate,'' she said. 

    Nevertheless, ACT-UP promised to keep protesting and said it
would challenge other presidential candidates on the issue too. 

    ``This statement is smoke and mirrors. We want action,'' said
Asia Russell of ACT-UP Philadelphia, which amassed 400 protesters
outside a Gore event Monday. ``We plan to continue our work
against Gore until he does more than simply issue a statement
about this yearlong effort ... to do the dirty work of the
pharmaceutical industry.'' 

    South Africa's 1997 law granted the government unspecified
power to obtain cheaper AIDS drugs for the country where more
than 3 million people are HIV positive and 2.5 million children
are expected to be orphaned because of the virus over the next 10
years. 

    About 40 pharmaceutical companies in South Africa, Europe and
the United States are challenging the law in South African
courts, fearing it may be used in a way that violates patent
rights. 

    Gore said in his letter that the Clinton administration
expressed concerns about the law's vagueness and asked the South
African government to assure it would ``not undermine legal
protections'' for patent holders. 

    According to Gore aides, the misunderstanding began in
February after the State Department submitted a report on U.S.
efforts to get the Medicines Act amended. A provision inserted
into last year's budget required the report as a condition for
releasing U.S. aid to South Africa. 

    In April, pharmaceutical industry representatives asked Gore
to push for a tougher trade designation for South Africa because
of the Medicines Act dispute. Gore declined, and urged the U.S.
trade representative to reject the industry's recommendation. 
-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org