---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:33:16 -0500
From: Africa Action <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Africa: Mobilizing for the Right to Health
Africa: Mobilizing for the Right to Health
Date distributed (ymd): 021120
Document reposted by Africa Action
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +health+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This posting contains information on recent actions to defend the
right to health by the newly formed Treatment Action Movement in
Nigeria and the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa. These
are only a few of the actions that activists and health workers
around Africa are taking to fight back against HIV/AIDS.
In the U.S., on the eve of World AIDS day, organizations are
organizing a demonstration in Washington, DC and a call-in day for
others around the country on Tuesday, November 26. Demonstrators
will be demanding a reversal of Bush administration policies of
systematic neglect and disarmament in face of global threats to
human health. Africa Action is a co-sponsor of this action, and is
also actively involved in World AIDS Day events in the San
Francisco Bay Area, Houston, and Atlanta.
Information on the demonstration and on other actions that can be
taken to protest U.S. policy, as well as a brief article by Danny
Glover on HIV/AIDS and Africa's Poverty, are in another posting
also sent out today.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AFRICA ACTION NOTE: As of November 27, 2002, the Africa Action
office will be moving to a new address. We will be at 1634 Eye
Street, NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20006. Telephone, fax, e-
mail address, and website will not change.
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Treatment Action Movement, Nigeria
Press Alert - November 17, 2002
Upcoming Meeting in Abuja Threatens Survival of People Living with
HIV/AIDS, Advocates Warn
For further information, please contact:
Olayide Akanni (Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria): 0802 3037 998
http://www.nigeria-aids.org
Rolake Nwagwu (AIDS Alliance Nigeria): 0803 3035 895
Bede Eziefule (Centre for the Right to Health): 0802 3330 995
http://www.wangonet.org/CHR/default.htm
November 17, 2002: HIV/AIDS treatment activists in Nigeria have
expressed serious concern about a meeting in Abuja this week that
threatens access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in
the country.
The activists met on Saturday in Lagos under the auspices of the
Treatment Action Movement (TAM), a coalition of civil society
groups working in the area of HIV/AIDS treatment and care.
The activists say that the meeting, sponsored by the United
States Department of Commerce, could erode access to cheap and
affordable medicines, especially antiretrovirals (ARV) that are
currently being enjoyed by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in
Nigeria.
The meeting, holding on November 20-22 2002 at the Nicon Hilton
Hotel in Abuja, will decide on the final draft for Nigeria's
Intellectual Property (IP) law, which will, among other things,
regulate importation of medicines for many of the most common
epidemics in Africa, including HIV/AIDS.
The new law is being drafted in compliance with the Agreements on
Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), to which
Nigeria is a signatory.
But activists are protesting the secretive nature of the
forthcoming meeting, and the non-involvement of civil society
groups in the preparations. Specifically, activists are concerned
that the new draft law being prepared would disallow importation
of cheap but effective generic HIV/AIDS medicines, thus leaving the
market open only to monopolies of big pharmaceutical firms that
would set high prices and ensure that the medicines are beyond
the reach of Nigerians.
The situation could also lead to a stoppage of the federal
government's current treatment programme, under which PLWA can
get cheap ARV medicines purchased at low prices from generic
manufacturers such as in India, as the new law will make such
purchases illegal.
"It is outrageous that such an important meeting as one to draft
an IP bill that will have implications on the fate of 3.5 million
Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS, is being done without our input",
said Pat Matemilola, president of the Network of People living
with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN). "Considering the great import
of decisions that would emanate from this meeting as regards
continued access to life-saving treatment, we feel that our lives
are being jeopardized by this omission. We demand that the
conveners of this meeting call us to the table. Our lives must not
be toyed with".
Mohammed Farouk, coordinator of the AIDS Alliance in Nigeria,
said the meeting constitutes "a calculated attempt to deny PLWA
continued existence. We call on the bodies responsible to, as a
matter of urgency, include all stakeholders most especially
people with HIV/AIDS, to be part of this meeting".
The activists are demanding that organizers of the meeting: -
invite representatives of PLWHA, the media and civil society to
the Abuja meeting - provide full records of its deliberations,
including the draft law that will be discussed at the meeting and
- commit themselves to ensuring that clauses such as compulsory
licensing, parallel importing and Bolar exceptions that will
allow access by PLWA in Nigeria to cheap and affordable medicines
are included in the draft bill
TAM is also calling on the National Action Committee on AIDS
(NACA), the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Ministry of
Justice and other relevant agencies of the federal government to
ensure that the draft IP bill fully protects Nigerians'
interests.
"Any effort to draft legislation that affects the lives of people
living with HIV/AIDS must be seen to be open, inclusive and
consultative", said Omololu Falobi of Journalists Against AIDS
(JAAIDS) Nigeria. "Conveners of this meeting must demonstrate
that they have interests of PLWA at heart by ensuring full
participation of critical stakeholders, including the media and
PLWA, in the deliberations"
"We believe that the rights of PLWA to affordable care and
treatment should be protected by the Nigerian state", said Bede
Eziefule of the Centre for the Right to Health (CRH).
"Government must ensure that the rights of PLWHA to life-saving
treatment are assured and legally-protected"
TAM also called on other civil society groups to support these
demands by signing their names to the petition.
******************************************************
Treatment Action Movement in Nigeria formed
October 28, 2002
For more information contact:
Olayide Akanni, Programme Officer
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Email: [log in to unmask]
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(JAAIDS) Nigeria. For further information, visit :
http://www.nigeria-aids.org
October 28, 2002 - Treatment advocates in Nigeria have announced
the formation of a Treatment Action Movement (TAM) to spearhead
activities to access care and treatment for people living with
HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
The establishment of the movement is one of the outcomes of two
advocacy workshops held in Ibadan and Abuja on October 6-9 and
October 13-16 2002 respectively. Organised by Journalists Against
AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria with funding from the Ford Foundation, the
workshops were part of a two-year project to expand access to
HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Nigeria.
61 treatment advocates participated in both workshops,
representing PLWHA groups, care and support organisations, the
human rights community, the media, state action committees on AIDS
and the Oyo State House of Assembly. Three participants came from
South Africa: Jonathan Berger of the AIDS Law Project in
Johannesburg and Messrs Vuyani Jacobs and Nombeko Mpongo of the
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
40 participants from Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos
states attended the first workshop held at Lafia Hotel, Ibadan.
They included representatives from notable PLWHA support groups
such as Positive Life Association of Nigeria (PLAN) Ibadan; Living
Hope Care, Ilesa; AIDS Alliance in Nigeria, Lagos; Life Care
Organisation, Ado-Ekiti; Sagamu Community Centre, Sagamu; and the
Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN).
Delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony, Oyo State
Health Commissioner, Dr. Gbola Adetunji (represented by the Dr.
Titilayo Ipadeola, permanent secretary in the ministry)
emphasized the inextricable link between HIV/AIDS prevention and
treatment. He charged participants to lead the way in ensuring
comprehensive treatment, care and support for PLWHA, pointing out
that although political commitment is key to the provision of
treatment, it has to be backed up by community involvement.
Dr. Babatunde Ahonsi of the Ford Foundation, and Mrs. Grace
Delano of the Association for Family and Reproductive Health
(ARFH), representing the Civil Society Consultative Group on
HIV/AIDS (CiSCGHAN), delivered goodwill messages at the occasion.
Other guests at the ceremony included Professor Femi Soyinka
(representing the Governing Board of JAAIDS) and Dr. Pat
Matemilola, national coordinator of NEPWHAN.
The workshop aimed at building treatment literacy among
participants. Dr. Taiwo Adewole of the Nigerian Institute of
Medical Research (NIMR) put participants through an understanding
of the scientific basis of HIV/AIDS and how antiretroviral drugs
work. Prof. David Olaleye of the Virology Department of the
University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan handled the session on
Opportunistic Infections.
Dr. Ebun Adejuyigbe, consultant peadiatrician at the Obafemi
Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, delivered the
session on prevention of mother-to-child transmission while Dr.
Pat Matemilola of NEPWHAN spoke on the role of Civil Society in
expanding access to treatment.
Sessions on human rights approaches to securing access to
treatment were presented by Jonathan Berger of the AIDS Law
Project, South Africa and Ebenezer Durojaye of the Centre for Right
to Health (CRH), Lagos. Participants were also able to benefit from
the South African experience, with presentations by Vuyani Jacobs
and Nombeko Mpongo of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
The workshop in Abuja held at Parkview Hotel. 21 participants
representing groups from Kebbi, Benue, Niger, Adamawa and
Nassarawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory attended
the workshop.
Resource persons at the Abuja workshop included Dr. Nasir
Sani-Gwarzo of the federal ministry of health; Mrs. Nkechi Onah,
National Moderator of CISGHAN; Dr. Wole Daini also of CiSCGHAN;
Dr. Megh Raj of Bishop Murray Medical Centre, Makurdi and Mr.
Omololu Falobi, Project Director of JAAIDS.
At the end of both workshops, participants stressed the need for
expansion of the country care and support response to HIV/AIDS.
Particular emphasis was also laid on the need to create more
awareness on the available care and treatment options available
to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
One of the major outcomes of the workshops was the inauguration
of a Treatment Action Movement (TAM) to provide civil society
oversights to care and support initiatives in the country. The
movement would also ensure full and faithful implementation of
the care and support components of national HIV/AIDS Emergency
Action Plan as well as serve as an advocacy group which would
partner with various stakeholders to ensure access to care and
support for PLWHA across the country.
A 14-member steering committee comprising seven PLWHA and other
activists nominated from both workshops would guide the
activities of the movement. A treatment access conference, to be
held early in 2003, is being proposed to formally launch the
movement and expand the base of its membership.
The workshops also created a platform for networking between
Nigerian activists and their South African counterparts through
the participation of representatives from the AIDS Law Project and
the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
Three more workshops - in eastern and northern Nigeria - will be
held in 2003 in continuation of the access to treatment project.
*********************************************************
Treatment Action Campaign
http://www.tac.org.za
Save 3 Million Lives And Prevent 2.5 Million Infections! Research
Shows Need For A Comprehensive Treatment And Prevention Plan
September 26, 2002
[A fact sheet with more details, in pdf format, is available at:
http://www.tac.org.za/
CostsAndBenefitsOfTreatmentAndPrevention.pdf-type URL on one line]
Urgent action by Government can save 3 million lives of people
living with HIV/AIDS by 2015, reduce the number of orphans and
prevent new infections. New research demonstrates the enormous
social and economic costs our country will face if government
does not lead civil society and the private sector in the use of
antiretroviral therapy. The Treatment Action Campaign's (TAC)
call for a national treatment plan by government with clear budgets
and time-frames is the only chance this government has to avoid a
social catastrophe.
Research conducted by the UCT Centre for Actuarial Research
(CARE) demonstrates that a comprehensive treatment and prevention
plan that incorporates antiretroviral therapy will prevent millions
of AIDS deaths and new HIV infections. By implementing voluntary
counselling and testing, mother-to-child transmission prevention,
improved management of sexually transmitted infections and highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), nearly 3 million AIDS
deaths can be averted and over 2.5 million HIV infections can be
prevented by 2015. Furthermore a treatment programme that includes
HAART can prevent approximately a million double-orphans (children
under the age of 18 both of whose parents have died).
The TAC has used the results of the CARE research to estimate
costs of implementing these programmes. The cost of HAART for
adults gradually increases from R224 million in 2002 to R6.8
billion in 2007 to a peak of R18.1 billion in 2015. These amounts
include personnel and monitoring costs and assume that generic
medicines that have been proven equivalent to patented brand-name
drugs are available for use. With a realistic price reduction in
antiretroviral medicines to R300 per month for a first-line
regimen and R450 per month for a second-line regimen, the cost of
Adult HAART can be reduced to R14.1 billion in 2015. Adult HAART is
the most expensive of the health interventions that CARE has
modelled but has the most significant effect on life-expectancy and
AIDS deaths.
Central to our work is the right to life and dignity of all
people. But, a clear human rights approach is not the only gain for
society. Treatment will not only save lives, it will reduce
hospitalisation costs to the public health sector and the cost of
orphan grants and caring for orphans. Furthermore, through
treatment we can avoid: the collapse of the public health system;
loss of human capital (e.g. teachers, nurses, students); and
immense social dysfunction. In addition, the economy will
benefit from investment in health-care, stability in productivity
and retention of skills.
While modelling the future is not an exact science, this is the
most comprehensively researched work of this kind that has yet
been done with regard to the South African HIV epidemic. It is
therefore the best information available and there is an imperative
to act upon it, given the challenges the HIV epidemic poses for
South Africa's development. Government must now meet its
Constitutional duty to ensure the rights to life, dignity and
health-care. It must develop and implement a plan which at a
minimum incorporates voluntary counselling and testing,
mother-to-child transmission prevention of HIV, improved management
of sexually transmitted infections and highly active antiretroviral
therapy. By working together all sectors of South African society
can alleviate the worst effects of the HIV epidemic. We must act
now!
(The CARE research was commissioned by the TAC. We wish to thank
Leigh Johnson, Professor Rob Dorrington, the Centre for Actuarial
Research, Alex Van Den Heever, Chris Raubenheimer and all the
health care professionals and researchers who provided
information for this work. This research will be submitted to
NEDLAC, the Health Ministry, SANAC and provincial health
departments.)
The full CARE report is available from
http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/care
************************************************************
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