Health GAP
www.healthgap.org

For Immediate Release: July 18, 2005
Contact:
David Bryden, Global AIDS Alliance, 202-296-0260 ext 211, c: 202-549-3664
David Levy, Essential Action, 703 205 0989, c: 202 288 2283

IMMINENT CAFTA VOTE:
WILL POOR NATIONS BE CUT OFF FROM ACCESS TO AIDS AND OTHER MEDICINES?

Press Conference By Telephone, Thursday, July 21
1 pm Eastern Time (12 noon Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific, 1700 GMT)

WHAT: Press conference by telephone on upcoming CAFTA vote. Experts will explain CAFTA's negative impact on access to affordable medicine for Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as its broader implications.

WHEN: Thursday, July 21, 2005, 1 pm ET (12 Noon Central, 11:00 am Mountain, 10:00 am Pacific, 1700 GMT). The call will last 45 minutes. (If possible, please call at 12:50 pm to allow time for sign-in and assure a punctual start.)

WHERE: By telephone. To sign up, contact David Levy at the phone # here above or . To dial directly into the call, dial 1-973-935-8597 (or 1-888-896-0862 toll-free). To have the operator call you at the appointed time, please be sure to request that service when signing up.

WHO: Experts on the call

Román Macaya, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Chamber of Generic Products of Costa Rica, a trade organization that creates awareness of the social and economic benefits of generic products, such as agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. He was Advisor to the Costa Rican Minister of Health on Health Care reform legislation. He holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School and a doctorate in Biochemistry from UCLA.

Robert Weissman, Co-Director, Essential Action, a corporate accountability group that works on access to medicines. He is an attorney and has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization and other international organizations on intellectual property and access to medicines issues. He holds a JD degree from Harvard Law School.

Stephanie Weinberg, Trade Policy Advisor, Oxfam America, an international development and humanitarian relief agency committed to developing lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice. She received an MA in International Development from American University, and lived and worked in Central America for several years.

WHY:
The upcoming vote in Congress on the Central America Free Trade Agreement will have life and death consequences for people in Central America and the Dominican Republic. In the poor countries of Central America, high prices for drugs are not just a hardship -- they mean people go without the medicines they need.

Generic competition is the key means to reduce the price of drugs: In poor countries, the price of AIDS drugs, for example, has fallen more than 98 percent thanks to generic competition. U.S. CAFTA negotiators demanded that the agreement include expanded monopoly protections for the big, brand-name pharmaceutical companies that will delay the introduction of generic competition.

The CAFTA-induced delay in generic competition will mean that the the 275,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in the region will be denied access to new lifesaving treatments. The prevalence of HIV infection in the Dominican Republic and Honduras is three times the prevalence found in the US. People in need of new medicines to treat other illnesses will be similarly impacted.

The Senate has already approved the treaty (54 to 45). The House of Representatives is expected to vote on this issue next week.

For more issue information, see:
One page 'backgrounders':