Rockbites: Online petition against HIV-drug profiteering

newsarchive

March 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

back to March 2001 index

Online petition against HIV-drug profiteering
14 March 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.)

International medical aid and human rights organization Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has launched a Web-based petition supporting the government of South Africa in their efforts to fight 39 pharmaceutical companies who, through legal obstruction, are preventing life-saving drugs including HIV medication from reaching those in need.
In 1997 Nelson Mandela, then president, signed the Medicines And Related Substances Control Amendment Act to ensure low-cost access to life-saving drugs. The Act is fully in accord with international trade agreements. Nonetheless, a cartel of multinational drug companies immediately sued the government, effectively rendering the act moot—and indirectly causing a number of HIV-related deaths over the past three years. | Online petition | | Doctors Without Borders | | MSF press release | | Government of South Africa | | top of page |

back to March 2001 index

click for Rockbites Home
	Copyright © 1998 - 2001 M. Jason. All Rights Reserved. Rockbites is not for profit and supports human rights. “Rockbites” and “Alternative Daily” are service marks of Rockbites. All names are the property of their respective owners. Send your feedback or questions to feedback@rockbites.com Send your press releases to press@rockbites.com Rockbites Alternative Daily contact information