A new front is opened in the war against structural adjustment. Would that our "development organizations" were so clearsighted and forthright as the AIDS activists! >Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 10:10:00 -0500 >From: Michelle Sforza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: Michelle Sforza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Organization: Public Citizen >Subject: AIDS Activists circulate sign-on letter on African Trade bills > >>This is a sign-on letter that AIDS activists are circulating regarding >>the two African trade bills. >>The bill's text can be found on the web via THOMAS. For more information >>or to >>sign-on contact Eric Sawyer of ACT-UP NY one of the leaders of this >>campaign >>at [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >>Whether or not you sign-on to this letter or take a position on the >>legislation involved I thought this letter would be interest to many as >>this >>is the first large scale action ever taken by American AIDS groups on >>trade/development legislation. >>----- >> >>STATEMENT BY HIV/AIDS COMMUNITY GROUPS SUPPORTING THE "HOPE FOR AFRICA >>ACT" >>(HR 772) >> >>March 10, 1999 >> >>Dear Representative: >> >>As members of community based organizations leading the fight against >>AIDS in >>this country, and as concerned citizens, we the listed groups urge you >>to >>support the "HOPE for Africa Act" (H.R. 772). This crucial legislation >>will >>help sub-Saharan African nations make life-saving pharmaceuticals >>available to >>HIV/AIDS patients, and represents a practical, cost-effective way to >>combat >>the global AIDS crisis. >> >>In tandem with your support for H.R. 772, we urge you to oppose the >>so-called >>"African Growth and Opportunity Act" (H.R. 434). If passed, H.R. 434 >>would >>perpetuate a cruel economic policy that ultimately discourages public >>investment in social services like healthcare, and thus is antithetical >>to >>addressing the plight of sub-Saharan Africans with HIV/AIDS. >> >>As you are surely aware, HIV and AIDS are rampaging throughout >>sub-Saharan >>Africa. While sub-Saharan nations comprise only 10% of the world's >>population, >>they are bearing the tragic burden of 70% of the world's new AIDS cases. >>The >>World Health Organization reports that of the 14 million people who have >>died >>of AIDS to date, 12 million have come from this region. In the >>hardest-hit >>countries--Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland, >>infection >>rates in the 15-49 age group are running at 25%. In tourist areas such >>as >>Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the rates are even higher -- 40%. >> >>Unfortunately, the effects of this rampaging epidemic are widespread: >>sub- >>Saharan African economies are already being slowed by the mortality of >>men and >>women of working age, with inevitable repercussions to a global market >>economy. It has been widely reported that the possible gains associated >>with >>billions of development dollars invested in Africa over the past 15 >>years by >>industrialized nations have been seriously eroded by the relentless >>march of >>this plague. In the arena of the public health, AIDS is giving rise to >>an >>explosion of such highly contagious diseases as >>meningitis and tuberculosis. >> >>In the absence of either a cure or a vaccine in the foreseeable future, >>we >>ignore the facts of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa at our peril. This is an >>issue >>of profound importance to all Americans--not only because we have the >>resources and the power to make a difference, but also because we live >>in a >>world where interdependence and mutual responsibility are facts of life. >> >>We--you--can act: first by opposing H.R. 434. It not only ignores the >>AIDS >>crisis; it requires the President to certify that indebted SSA countries >>are >>complying with their inhumane International Monetary Fund (IMF) >>structural >>adjustment programs. Compliance forces SSA governments to direct >>domestic >>spending to debt repayment instead of to life-saving health care and >>educational initiatives. Indeed, H.R. 434 extends the "slash public >>spending" >>model to all SSA nations wishing to be certified by the President. >> >>You can also act by supporting the HOPE for Africa Act (H.R. 772). The >>HOPE >>for Africa Act provides a combination of aid, debt relief and policies >>specifically designed to increase the availability of life-extending >>medications to sub-Saharan Africans with HIV/AIDS. H.R. 772 would >>prohibit >>the use of United States funds to undermine any sub-Saharan African >>intellectual property or competition policy that seeks to promote access >>to >>pharmaceuticals and other medical technologies, so long as the >>legislation or >>policy complies with the WTO's agreement on Trade Related Aspects of >>Intellectual Property (TRIPS). HOPE would create a cooperative >>relationship >>between the U.S. and SSA, by making it U.S. policy to assist sub-Saharan >>African countries in efforts to make life-saving medications and medical >>technologies widely available through compulsory licensing and parallel >>importing. >> >>As organizations leading the domestic fight against AIDS, we strongly >>urge you >>to oppose H.R. 434, and any other Africa bill that would undermine the >>development of a sound health policy in SSA. Please support the HOPE for >>Africa Act: not to do so would contribute to an AIDS epidemic in >>sub-Saharan >>Africa that will claim more lives by 2005 than the Holocaust of World >>War II. >>>> >>>> Sincerely, >>>> >>>>ACT UP Golden Gate >>>ACT UP Philadelphia >>>ACT UP New York >>>AIDS Action Baltimore >>>AIDS Action Council >>>AIDS Project Los Angeles >>>AIDS Treatment Data Network >>>Direct Access Alternative Information Resources (DAAIR) >>>Gay Men's Health Crisis >>>HIV Department, Lowell Community Health Center >>>HIV in Prison Committee of California Prison Focus >>>HIV Human Rights Project >>>Housing Works >>>International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission >>>Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Inc >>>Mobilization Against AIDS >>>National Association of People with AIDS >>>National Minority AIDS Council >>>National Native American AIDS Prevention Center >>>People with AIDS Health Group >>>People with AIDS Coalition/New York >>>Search for a Cure/Boston >>>Sisters Together and Reaching (STAR)/Baltimore >>>Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program >>>Phil Wilson, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Archives Project >> >> >>-- > > > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Michelle Sforza >Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch >215 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. >3rd Floor >Washington, D.C. 20003 >(202) 546-4996, ext. 302 >(202) 547-7392 (fax) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >www.tradewatch.org ------------------------------- Robert Naiman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Preamble Center for Public Policy 1737 21st NW Washington, DC 20009 phone: 202-265-3263 fax: 202-265-3647 http://www.preamble.org/ -------------------------------
