---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 22:54:10 -0700
From: David Mozer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: us-afr <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [AfricaMatters] FW: Alert: Ask Congress to Support Medicines for
    Developing Countries


-----Original Message-----

Ask Congress to Support Medicines for Developing Countries! Please
contact your representative and ask them to co-sponsor H.R.2470.

Maxine Waters, Fortney Pete Stark, Dennis Kucinich and Barbara Lee have
introduced H.R. 2470, the Medicines to Eliminate Diseases in Developing
States Act (the MEDDS Act) in the House of Representatives.  This bill
would promote access to affordable medicines for HIV/AIDS and other
diseases in developing countries.  A copy of the Dear Colleague is
included below. Please encourage Members of Congress to cosponsor this
bill.  Thank You!

Kathleen Sengstock
Legislative Assistant
Rep. Maxine Waters
2344 Rayburn
(202) 225-2201

June 17, 2003

Developing Countries Need
Access to Medicine !

Dear Colleague:

    We are writing to request your cosponsorship of H.R. 2470, the
Medicines to Eliminate Diseases in Developing States Act (the MEDDS
Act). This bill would promote access to affordable medicines for
HIV/AIDS and other diseases in developing countries.

    Access to medicines is severely limited in developing countries.
Developing countries cannot afford to purchase medicines at the prices
charged by pharmaceutical companies.  More than 40 million people are
living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, and over 95% of them live in developing
countries. Yet, the medicines that treat people with HIV/AIDS in the
United States are unavailable in most developing countries.  Patients in
developing countries with other diseases such as heart disease, diabetes
and cancer also lack access to life-saving medicines.  When medicines
are available, they are prohibitively expensive for all but the
wealthiest elites.  When individual developing countries such as South
Africa and Brazil have attempted to make generic medicines available to
their populations, they faced legal challenges from the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and multinational pharmaceutical companies.

    The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
affirmed the rights of developing countries to take measures to protect
public health and promote access to medicines.  This declaration was
adopted by the WTO at the Fourth Ministerial Conference at Doha, Qatar,
on November 14, 2001.   Unfortunately, the implementation of this
declaration has been delayed while multinational pharmaceutical
companies -- with the support of the United States Trade Representative
-- maneuver to limit its scope. Meanwhile, people in developing
countries continue to suffer and die from treatable diseases.  At least
4.5 million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the year-and-a-half since
the Doha Declaration was adopted.

    The Medicines to Eliminate Diseases in Developing States Act would
protect the rights of developing countries to promote access to
medicines for HIV/AIDS and other diseases.  This bill would require the
United States to support full implementation of the Doha Declaration on
the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health.  The bill would also make it
illegal for the United States to initiate WTO proceedings or use federal
funds to attempt to overturn developing country policies that promote
access to medicines.

    We urge our colleagues to support the MEDDS Act and allow developing
countries to make life-saving medicines available to their people.  To
cosponsor the MEDDS Act, please contact Kathleen Sengstock of
Congresswoman Waters' staff at (202) 225-2201.

Sincerely,




Maxine Waters                       Fortney Pete Stark
Member of Congress                  Member of Congress



Dennis Kucinich                     Barbara Lee
Member of Congress                  Member of Congress


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/ySSFAA/DKgolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To the extent possible, please keep postings concise. Our archives are at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/us-afr-network.  To Post a message, send it to [log in to unmask] .  Tell others to subscribe by sending a blank message to [log in to unmask] .  To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [log in to unmask]

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~