[Ip-health] Thailand, Abbott and the Second Line AIDS Crisis: Press Teleconf Wed 25 April 2007, 10 EST

[Buddhima Lokuge]

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Doctors Without Borders- Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
For Immediate Release
Contact Kevin Phelan at. (int) 1-212-655-3763. (Int) 1-646-201-823 0 (mobil=
e)
MEDIA ADVISORY - PRESS TELECONFERENCE
The Second-Line AIDS Crisis- Condemned to Repeat?
WHEN-     Wednesday April 25. 2007. 10 am EST
CALL IN-     (int) 1-866-244-4629 toll free in the United States
          (int) 1-703-639-1176 from abroad
WHO-
- Tido von Schoen-Angerer. MD, Executive Director. Campaign for Access to
Essential Medicines. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
- Paul Cawthorne. Head of Mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) projec=
ts
in Thailand
- Warit Purahong. Chairperson. Thai Network of Positive People
- Rohit Malpani. Trade Policy Advisor. Oxfam America
When the government of Thailand in March issued a compulsory license for th=
e
crucial second-line AIDS medicine Lopinavir-ritonavir marketed as Kaletra b=
y
Abbott Laboratories the Chicago-based company took the unprecedented step o=
f
withdrawing all new medicines from the registration process in Thailand.
This week several community leaders from Thailand will be in the United Sta=
tes
to discuss the importance of using flexibilities like compulsory licenses t=
o
overcome the crisis in AIDS care in Thailand and throughout the developing
world.
Compulsory licenses are legally recognized by all governments in the WTO as=
 a
means to overcome the barriers created by monopolistic pricing practices. I=
n
fact Abbott Laboratories benefited from a compulsory license ordered by
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2005 on the rapid-exchange delivery syste=
m
for drug-eluting stents (DES). But Abbotts harsh move in Thailand and drug
patent disputes elsewhere raise several important questions-
- What good are the flexibilities built into international trade agreements=
 if
countries will be penalized for using them?
- What will be needed to provide people living with HIV/AIDS and other
diseases the medicines required for their survival?
- How do we avoid repeating the situation in the late 1990s when many peopl=
e
living with HIV/AIDS were condemned to death simply because they could not =
pay
for life-saving medicines that were widely available in the developed world=
?
--------------------------------------------------
Buddhima Lokuge
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Doctors Without Borders/M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res (MSF)
New York