OneWorld U.S.
Thursday, April 24, 2003

Washington DC, Apr. 23 (OneWorld) - AIDS (news - web sites) activists chanted, sang, rallied, and deposited 600 pairs of shoes in front of the South African embassy here today--one for each person that dies from the disease every day in that country--as part of a global demonstration to demand greater access to medication for people living with HIV (news - web sites) and AIDS.

Chanting "medication for every nation" and "AIDS can be defeated, if the people are treated," some 300 activists from Washington, New York, and Philadelphia presented a memo to the South African government's representative in the U.S., Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo, demanding immediate action to provide AIDS treatment for all of the country's HIV-positive citizens.

"We as Americans...have come today to the front of the South African embassy to insist that any barrier--whether it's the greed of a pharmaceutical company, or the indifference of the U.S. government, or the obstruction of the South African government--we will stand against and we will overturn, until AIDS becomes a treatable disease in poor countries just as it is for rich people in rich countries," said Asia Russell of the Philadelphia-based activist group Health GAP.

Every day the disease kills 8,500 people worldwide, Russell noted, with the greatest burden falling on the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa alone has 4.6 million HIV-positive citizens, the most of any country in the world.

The South African government has come under fire for its controversial stance on AIDS--initially disareeing with the widely-accepted scientific belief that HIV causes AIDS, then ultimately accepting the science last year but dragging its feet on the creation of a universal treatment program for its citizens, according to advocacy groups like Health GAP, Africa Action, and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), South Africa's largest grassroots AIDS activist organization.

Thursday's demonstrations, including actions in Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and Nairobi, were planned to coincide with this weekend's celebration of Freedom Day in South Africa and to show solidarity with the TAC's campaign of civil disobedience to force the South African government to take action on the issue, which began last month.

Many of the organizations represented at the Washington rally supported the South African government in a 2001 lawsuit demanding that pharmaceutical companies provide access to cheaper, generic AIDS drugs for poor countries, explained Africa Action Executive Director Salih Booker, expressing dismay at now having to critique that same government for failing to deliver on its promise of health care for all its citizens.

Accepting the memorandum on behalf of the South African government, Nhlapo pleaded with the activists not to look upon his government as an adversary, but rather as an ally in the fight against AIDS.

"With limited resources, our government's budget allocation for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases has been increased ten times since the 2001-2002 financial year. Indeed, South Africa's plan to combat HIV and AIDS has been recognized by the United Nations (news - web sites) as the largest and most comprehensive in Africa, and one of the largest in the world," said Nhlapo, to equal parts boos and applause.

"This is not a fight that sets us against each other, it is one that we are joined together in prosecuting and as long as this scourge persists, so also should efforts to stand together in combating it" he added.

But Health GAP's Russell was not convinced. "The facts are in on the country of South Africa," she replied. "The financial analysis has been done. What's missing is a commitment from the government, deputy Ambassador. What's missing is an incontrovertible commitment: 'Yes, we will roll out antiretroviral treatment for the public sector.'"