Gephardt pushes US on AIDS drugs

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

http://www.africanews.org/atlarge/stories/19991214/19991214_feat2.html

Gephardt pushes US on AIDS drugs 
Business Day (Johannesburg) 
December 14, 1999 
By Wyndham Hartley 

Cape Town - The US should "explore intensely" getting anti-AIDS drugs 
to infected people in Africa following US President Bill Clinton's 
efforts to resolve the intellectual property disputes between drug 
companies and SA, congressional delegation leader Richard Gephardt 
said yesterday.

Gephardt, minority leader in the House of Representatives, was 
speaking at a news briefing at the conclusion of a bipartisan 
congressional visit to three sub-Saharan countries.

Referring to Clinton's announcement at the recent meeting of the 
World Trade Organisation that he was calling on drug companies to 
drop their legal challenges to SA's drug laws, Gephardt said his 
visit had shown the great need for anti-AIDS drugs in Africa.

He said more efforts had to be made following Clinton's efforts 
to "kick- start" the process because the drugs were still too 
expensive for many in Africa "and ways have to be found to get them 
into the countries that need them".

"I go back with a renewed feeling that we have to do more with the 
rest of the world to address what is a pandemic."

The group said in a statement: "We are committed to increasing our 
government's help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. To this end we are 
pleased to announce that US assistance to confront this deadly 
disease in SA will increase more than fourfold from R12m in 1999 to 
more than R50m in 2000."

Gephardt and his eight colleagues from both the Democratic and the 
Republican parties visited SA, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. He said of the 
group's meeting with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe that there 
was a commitment to a resolution to the conflict in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo.

Mugabe has a heavy military commitment in the Congo in support of 
President Laurent Kabila.

Gephardt said that his feeling was that Mugabe wanted an end to the 
war and was focused on the future and a resolution.

The group said it was clear that Zimbabweans wanted a more responsive 
government and increased involvement from civil society in the 
country. "We hope President Mugabe will take the lead in 
strengthening democratic institutions in his country, and we 
encourage the involvement of nongovernmental organisations in this 
endeavour."

The statement said the US and SA had a special 
relationship. "President Mbeki described to us both the difficult 
challenges and promising opportunities confronting post-apartheid SA, 
which were reaffirmed during our meetings with business leaders in 
Johannesburg and community activists in Soweto and Cape Town."

As the group completed its mission to Africa, it shared the optimism 
apparent in the region, and this strengthened its commitment to work 
with African nations to advance democracy and economic growth. 



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