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Mizzima: Drug pricing for developin



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Drug pricing for developing countries ?unacceptable?

Geneva, March 12, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)


The world's largest volunteer-based humanitarian organization has urged
that humanitarian needs should prevail over commercial concerns to
ensure access to life-saving drugs in developing countries. It has
called on its membership to support countries like South Africa in the
search for solutions.

"Humanitarian concerns should prevail over commercial concerns and the
present balance of resource allocation and pricing of drugs is
unacceptable and needs to be re-designed as it does not allow access to
care and treatment for the vast majority of people living with
HIV/AIDS?, said the International federation?s HIV/AIDS governance group
in its statement.

This applies not only to HIV/AIDS but also to other major public health
problems, states the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies today. The organization has 176 member
National Societies world-wide with close to 100 million members and
volunteers, many of whom are involved in HIV/AIDS-related activities.

The President of the International Federation, Dr. Astrid Heiberg, said:
"I am very pleased that our HIV/AIDS governance group has issued such a
forthright declaration on this issue. Lives are being lost because
access is being denied to life-saving medicine for those living with
HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. This is
completely unacceptable. Pharmaceutical companies and the international
community can and must find a way round this."

Dr. Heiberg added: "HIV/AIDS and associated opportunistic infections
constitute a global public health emergency in which millions of lives
have already been lost. Urgent measures are needed to avert an even
larger scale disaster, and the present World Trade Organization (WTO)
system could work to support a suitable humanitarian response. However,
the public health emergency provisions of the WTO framework will be
rendered useless if the cases against Brazil and South Africa succeed."



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<b><font color="#0000FF"><font size=+2>Drug pricing for developing countries
?unacceptable?</font></font></b>
<p><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+1>Geneva, March 12, 2001</font></font>
<br><font color="#CC0000"><font size=+1>Mizzima News Group (<a href="http://www.mizzima.com";>www.mizzima.com</a>)</font></font>
<br>&nbsp;
<p><font size=+1>The world's largest volunteer-based humanitarian organization
has urged that humanitarian needs should prevail over commercial concerns
to ensure access to life-saving drugs in developing countries. It has called
on its membership to support countries like South Africa in the search
for solutions.</font>
<p><font size=+1>"Humanitarian concerns should prevail over commercial
concerns and the present balance of resource allocation and pricing of
drugs is unacceptable and needs to be re-designed as it does not allow
access to care and treatment for the vast majority of people living with
HIV/AIDS?, said the International federation?s HIV/AIDS governance group
in its statement.</font>
<p><font size=+1>This applies not only to HIV/AIDS but also to other major
public health problems, states the Geneva-based International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies today. The organization has 176
member National Societies world-wide with close to 100 million members
and volunteers, many of whom are involved in HIV/AIDS-related activities.</font>
<p><font size=+1>The President of the International Federation, Dr. Astrid
Heiberg, said: "I am very pleased that our HIV/AIDS governance group has
issued such a forthright declaration on this issue. Lives are being lost
because access is being denied to life-saving medicine for those living
with HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. This
is completely unacceptable. Pharmaceutical companies and the international
community can and must find a way round this."</font>
<p><font size=+1>Dr. Heiberg added: "HIV/AIDS and associated opportunistic
infections constitute a global public health emergency in which millions
of lives have already been lost. Urgent measures are needed to avert an
even larger scale disaster, and the present World Trade Organization (WTO)
system could work to support a suitable humanitarian response. However,
the public health emergency provisions of the WTO framework will be rendered
useless if the cases against Brazil and South Africa succeed."</font>
<p>&nbsp;</html>

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