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Rove's White House lies about
global AIDS funding and access to generic medicines, while millions die
(Washington, D.C. July 25, 2003) Chanting and holding signs
reading "Dying for AIDS drugs? Karl says drop dead" and "Bush's
lies kill, generic medicines now!", angry AIDS activists staged a
noisy disruption of an appearance by top White House advisor Karl Rove
at the National Conference of the College Republican National Committee,
at the Washington Hilton.
"President Bush is breaking his promise to fully fund a $3 billion
global AIDS bill signed into law in June. Bush is breaking his promise
that countries can put access to medicines and public health ahead of
the patent rights of greedy drug companies. The deadly global AIDS fraud
perpetrated by this White House has gone far enough," said Sean Barry,
a protester. "Rove pulls the strings in this Administration, and
Rove has the blood of people with HIV on his hands."
Two days ago, lawmakers
in the House of Representatives, under the direction of Rove's White House,
opposed efforts to fully fund the bill President Bush signed into law
in June that would provide $3 billion in global AIDS funding in 2004,
with $1 billion for the nearly bankrupt Global Fund, the only multilateral
program spending money on treatment for dying people with AIDS.
Experts point out that life saving programs in the hardest hit countries
around the world could readily absorb the $3 billion promised by Bush;
the White House, on the other hand, claims funding the Global Fund with
$1 billion in 2004 would be profligate.
"President Bush just went to Africa, ground zero of the AIDS catastrophe,
and is immediately breaking his promise to fund the Global Fund with $1
billion in 2004. The White House wants to 'go slow' on fighting a threat
to humanity Secretary of State Colin Powell calls worse than terrorism.
That's criminal," said Danae McElroy, a protester.
The disruption of Rove's speech comes on the heels of the global AIDS
funding vote in Congress, and on the lead up to crucial talks at the WTO,
at the Cancun Ministerial (Sept 10-14), where US and drug company intransigence
has blocked a deal on access to medicines in poor countries that lack
capacity for efficient domestic manufacturing. Karl Rove has been linked
to intense negotiations with US drug companies in determining White House
policy on what is considered a make-or-break issue for the Cancun Ministerial.
"While Bush lies
about life saving AIDS funding, he's preventing countries from implementing
policy that assures they can maximize medicines access by purchasing low
cost generics," said Sasha Post, a protester. "The US promised
they would permit countries to put public health before patent rights--for
killer Karl, that's just one more promise to walk away from."
ACTIVISTS DEMAND THE WHITE HOUSE:
--support funding for the Global Fund immediately, by keeping Bush's promise
to spend $3 billion fighting global AIDS in 2004, with $1 billion for
the Global Fund
--support a deal at the WTO on access to generics for countries with inefficient
domestic manufacturing capacity that is simple to implement, doesn't exclude
countries with moderate levels of development, isn't restricted to a list
of diseases, and doesn't force poor countries to enact onerous "safeguards"
to prevent diversion to rich country markets
--stop bilateral and regional trade policies that increase countries'
obligations to protect drug company patent rights at the expense of public
health and access to important medicines
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