FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 5, 2000

Contact TAC: Promise Mthembu 031-304-3673

Contact HealthGAP: Asia Russell 083-438-2894

GLOBAL MARCH FOR ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS TREATMENTS

JULY 9th, 2PM, DURBAN CITY HALL

WILL BREAK THE SILENCE ON PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY PROFITEERING

AND GOVERNMENT INACTION

The Treatment Action Campaign and Health Global Access Project Coalition (HealthGAP) have mobilized the largest ever coalition of concerned citizens for the Global March for HIV/AIDS Treatment, which will take place on Sunday, July 9^th to mark the beginning of the International AIDS Conference. The press conference for this march is being held today simultaneously in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban.

The march will be the most representative in the twenty-year history of the AIDS epidemic. To date, the march has been endorsed by 230 organisations from 33 countries. It will be led by people living with HIV and AIDS, hand-in-hand with the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Deputy Secretary General of the SACP, and leaders of the South African and international AIDS activist and trade union movements. Transport has been arranged for townships around Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone; groups and individuals are requested to phone TAC at 031-3013 for transport details.

The march will bring together people and organizations from many different countries and perspectives. On the march–and waiting for news of this demonstration–will be thousands of people living with HIV and AIDS, our friends and families as well as trade unionists, followers of many faiths, representatives of political parties, and a wide range of non-governmental organizations.

After the laying of flowers at the Durban City Hall and a minute of silence for 18 million people who have already died of AIDS, the march will proceed peacefully and with dignity and discipline to the Kingsmead Stadium.

At the Kingsmead Stadium, a Memorandum, the 34 Million Person Manifesto, will be handed to leaders from the South African, United States and European Union governments, as well as the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) and the chairperson of the International AIDS Conference, Professor Jerry Coovadia.

The Memorandum will set out a series of requests, proposals and demands to these parties. It will set time frames for responses to these proposals. It will be made available to the press at the conclusion of the March.

This march will not be ordinary. It will indicate to all the delegates of the International AIDS Conference that we do not expect ‘business as usual’ from this conference. We are not in Africa amongst the death and destruction caused by HIV for extravagant cocktail parties feted by drug companies.

We expect change. We expect a plan for affordable medicines. We expect a plan for expedited research into relevant treatments and an international prioritization in dramatically improving health infrastructure.

In the process of building this march we have forged a unique and powerful coalition. The March of July 9^th is the beginning of a worldwide response from below — after two decades of failure from above.

1. A plan from UNAIDS, the South African Government, and the Southern African Development Community for affordable medicines including anti-retrovirals for people living with HIV/AIDS by December 1, 2000–including a plan for compulsory licensing and parallel importing where necessary.
2. An immediate plan to implement Nevirapine/AZT for pregnant women with HIV.
3. An immediate price reduction for fluconazole to less than R4.00 per 200 mg or the granting of a voluntary license from Pfizer.

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Treatment Action Campaign has organized groundbreaking street protests and negotiated with health officials and pharmaceutical companies to gain access to affordable AIDS treatments for the 4 million people with HIV in South Africa and people with AIDS throughout the world.

The HealthGAP Coalition, an coalition of AIDS, human rights and fair trade activists, has used protest, negotiation, and public policy advocacy to pressure the US government, pharmaceutical companies, and international organizations to end the barriers to affordable AIDS and essential medications in developing nations. HealthGAP members include ACT UP (US and France), Consumer Project on Technology (US), the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Treatment Action Campaign (South Africa), and many other organizations