David Sanger, on Clinton annoucement

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

David Sanger, who has refused to write about this for years, was forced
to mention the drug issue when President Clinton made it an important
focus of his speech.  But Sanger made it sound as if it would not help the
poor.   Jamie

December 2, 1999


              THE OVERVIEW

              In Stormy Seattle, Clinton Chides World Trade
              Body

                             

              By DAVID E. SANGER

                   SEATTLE -- With Seattle's streets locked down by the
police and National Guard, President Clinton delivered two impassioned
pleas Wednesday for nations of the world to use trade agreements to
protect the rights of laborers and the environment, and delivered a
pointed attack on the World Trade Organization for the secrecy of its
operations.

   [snip]


              
In another bid to show that he was listening to the protesters who
gathered for the meeting, which ends Friday. Clinton announced two
initiatives to help the poorest nations, mostly in Africa, which have
complained that the global trading system victimizes their populations.
The most important was relaxation of American trade rules that the
president said would make it less expensive for African nations to
purchase and distribute drugs that fight AIDS, including AZT.

              
Until recently the United States had backed major drug companies, which
have insisted on strict control of the distribution of their drugs, often
at high prices. Wednesday the administration said it would allow nations
to buy those drugs through "parallel distributors" in other developing
countries, where the same drugs are often available more cheaply. But it
is unclear how much of a difference the change will make for people with
AIDS in Africa, most of whom are desperately poor.

             <SNIP>


-------------------------------
James Love 
Center for Study of Responsive Law | Consumer Project on Technology 
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 | http://www.cptech.org
Voice 202/387-8030 | Fax 202/234-5176 | love@cptech.org