HIV PLUS
Last year's activist Dream Team, Health GAP—GAP stands for Global Access Project—keeps on proving the power of informed dissent. We last reported on Health GAP in September [HIV Plus No. 5], when the group helped mobilize protests against the U.S. government's strong-arm attempts to block South African access to affordable life-saving meds. Since then, Health GAP has kept up the global pressure-with inspiring results. When the dust settled at last fall's protest-ridden World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, the U.S. government had shifted its policy on compulsory liscensing and parallel importing-two regulations that put affordable HIV medications within reach-announcing both trade practices were within the legal rights of all sub-Saharan African countries.
In January, Health GAP turned up the heat again. The result: a U.S. government letter to Thailand affirming the Thai government's right to produce less costly generic ddI. Next stop: the world AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa (see related box). Health GAP is working with South Africa's activist group, the Treatment Action Campaign, on an opening day protest. Ready to join the global fight? Find out about upcoming actions and recent news at www.healthgap.org.