Dying from AIDS for lack of medicine - TheBody.com's Bulletin Boards

Dying from AIDS for lack of medicine

More than 36 million people are living with HIV or AIDS. Ninety percent are living in developing countries where the high prices of medications are effectively condemning them to death. Without drastic changes to make these drugs more accessible to populations in need, this generation will witness a health crisis of epic proportions.

This is why university students in the United States must demand the 39 pharmaceutical companies suing the South African government drop their case. If the companies succeed, it could stop people from receiving life-saving medicines, including those most effective against HIV/AIDS in a country where close to five million people are already infected -- the highest number for any country in the world.

For more than three years, the pharmaceutical industry has blocked a law signed by Nelson Mandela that would make medicines more affordable to patients. They claim it would infringe on their patent rights. During that period, 400,000 South Africans have died of AIDS-related causes.

South Africa's predicted future, should the status quo be maintained, provides a frightening glimpse of what will happen in countries most affected by the epidemic if drastic steps are not taken to make medications more accessible. Right now, South Africa's 15-year-olds have a greater than 50 percent chance of dying of HIV-related causes, according to UNAIDS figures. The epidemic is projected to reduce economic growth by 2010 to the point where the country's gross domestic product will be 17 percent lower than it would be without AIDS.

The South African court case has evoked protest worldwide. In an unprecedented move, the European Parliament recently passed an emergency resolution calling on the pharmaceutical companies to drop their lawsuit. People have rallied from Rio to Capetown, Cophenhagen to Washington, D.C. Students must add their voices to this growing chorus of global outrage.

For a start, students can sign the online "Drop the Case!" petition sponsored by the international medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres at www.doctorswithoutborders.org. MSF is asking students to sign the petition and to distribute it as widely as possible. When the case resumes April 15, the electronic signatures will be presented to the pharmaceutical companies and to governments.

College students must also demand the U.S. government make a clear statement of support for South Africa's right to provide affordable medicine for its people. To date, the Bush administration has been completely silent on the lawsuit. Students can speak out through letter writing campaigns, protests and petitions.

Students must not underestimate their power. Not so long ago, students at U.S. universities played a key role in increasing pressure to get South Africa to end its system of apartheid. A nationwide student and faculty outcry forced many prestigious universities to divest their holdings in the country. South Africans survived apartheid. They should not die for lack of access to medicines.

Anne-Valerie Kaninda, M.D. is medical advisor for the Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres Access to Essential Medicines Campaign. For more information on the campaign, please go to http://www.accessmed-msf.org Send comments to letters@daily.umn.edu

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