Rockbites: Update: Drug companies drop South African court case

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April 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Update: Drug companies drop South African court case
19 April 2001

(As a human rights oriented Web site—we’re here to raise funds for human rights as well as to expose cutting edge pop—Rockbites occasionally brings you non-music-related stories. Here’s one.)

Breaking news! International medical aid and human rights organization Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced today success in their campaign to convince a cartel of drug companies to drop their court case against the government of South Africa (see our story from earlier today).
    Doctors Without Borders-USA Executive Director Nicolas de Torrent writes “...39 drug companies today unconditionally dropped the case they pursued for three years against the South African government. The move came in response to global denunciation of the suit and clears the path for the 1997 Medicines Act to go into force, allowing importation of affordable medicines and increased use of quality generic drugs.
    “More than a quarter of a million people signed Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) global petition calling on the companies to drop their case. These included thousands of Doctors Without Borders supporters, plus people in the field of AIDS advocacy and research such as David Ho, MD (Time Magazine’s 1996 'Man of the Year' for pioneering research on antiretrovirals), Mathilde Krim, founder of amFAR, Thomas Duane, the country’s first HIV-postive person elected to public office in the country, writers like Susan Sontag, Chinua Achebe, Sebastian Junger and John LeCarre, and celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, REM, Carlos Santana, Gillian Anderson and Patrick Stewart. The petition was also signed by advocacy groups nationwide.
    “The outcome of the case signals a dramatic shift in the balance of power between developing countries and drug companies. This is a win for South Africa, which claims the highest number of people infected with HIV/AIDS of any country in the world, and a victory in the battle to gain access to essential medicines for all populations in need.
    “Thank you again for your support.” | Doctors Without Borders | | press release | | top of page |

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