Protest Report: Pharmacutical companies + S Africa
MH | 07.03.2001 16:23
Below are pictures and the text of the leaflet given out at the protest outside South Africa House, London on 5th March 2001.
Protesters moved on to lobby pharmacutical companies calling for them to drop their action.
Protesters moved on to lobby pharmacutical companies calling for them to drop their action.
Leaflet text:
39 multinational drug companies want to stop the South African government buying cheap medicines. They are challenging the 1997 Medicines Act which Nelson Mandeia's Government introduced to ensure that South Africans have affordable medicines for treating HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. If the drug companies win the case, it will prevent the South African Government from importing and producing the cheap drugs its population desperately needs to treat HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.
People in developing countries are dying every day because they cannot afford basic medicines. During the time it has taken this case to come to court, 400,000 people in South Africa have died of HIV/AIDS, many because they cannot afford life saying medicines. This case is critical for the 30 million people infected with HIV/AIDS in developing countries, as what happens in South Africa will affect how other countries import medicines. Without drugs for HIV/AIDS, 1 in 200 of the world's population will be condemned to early deaths.
MH
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