US State Department meeting on HIV Initiative

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

February 17, 1999 Meeting at the Department of State on the US
Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS


The US State Department invited CPT to attend at 3:30 to 5:00 pm
meeting at the US Department of State to discuss the new "U.S.
Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS. Apparently we were invited
because we were one of a few groups that filed comments in an
earlier public notice on the issue.  The meeting was identified
as an "industry meeting," and PhRMA, Merck, Eli Lilly, Bristol-
Myers Squibb (BMS) and one or two other firms were invited, but
so was CPT, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center and a Harvard
University program on AIDS (represented by J Norris).  

I showed up for the meeting, but asked if there had been a
mistake, since I do not work for "industry."  Apparently there
was a mistake, and I was advised that I was not supposed to
attend the meeting, but could come back on Thursday to attend an
NGO briefing.  I asked who else was considered part of the
"industry."  The AFL-CIO apparently wasn't, and we left together. 
However, Harvard University said that it considered itself
"industry" because of its association with Merck on this issue.

The agenda for the industry briefing contained five items:

1.  The 1999 US International Response to HIV/AIDS
2.  US Diplomatic Initiative on HIV/AIDS
3.  The role of the pharmaceutical industry in the fight against
international HIV/AIDS
4.  Automatic patenting for AIDS drugs
5.  The International Vaccine Institute (IVI)


I asked about item 4, "automatic patenting," and was told this
was about the March meeting that was being organized (by CPT, HAI
and MSF) in Geneva on the topic of compulsory licensing.  As one
of the organizers of that meeting, I offered to provide some
information about the meeting and the topic of compulsory
licensing, and we did have a brief discussion before we left.

I checked back with State later and found that compulsory
licensing was left off the agenda for the NGO meeting.  I asked
that it be included, particularly since it was on the agenda for
the industry meeting.  I'll find out tomorrow, and report what
happens next.

Jamie


-- 
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
202.387.8030; f 202.234.5176
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:love@cptech.org