LOS ANGELES, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- As US President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox and other officials conclude the North American Free Trade Agreement meeting this week in Texas, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS organization in the US which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Central America and Asia-including one free clinic recently opened in Tijuana -- urged officials and drug company executives on both sides of the border to reconsider drug patent laws and enforcement that severely restrict access to life-saving AIDS drugs in Mexico.
AHF notes that NAFTA’s patent protections restrict crucial public health flexibilities and safeguards allowed for under the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, and as a result, impedes Mexico’s ability to adequately respond to its domestic HIV/AIDS crisis.
“People with AIDS in Mexico can’t access these life-saving anti-retroviral HIV drugs due to the high costs and limited availability,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “As a middle income country, Mexico may be able to pay more per person than the $150 or so per year for ARVs that developing world countries do; however, Mexico strengthened its drug patent laws in order to enter into NAFTA and as a result, prices for these life -- saving drugs are well beyond the reach of those who need them-sometimes costing as much as $2,000 USD. We ask that ask the stakeholders involved explore all avenues to improve access to meet the growing need for affordable ARV treatment.”
Other activists have contended that NAFTA has long benefited “unaccountable transnational corporations at the expense of the poor.”
For media inquiries, contact Ged Kenslea, AHF’s Communications Director, (323) 860.5225.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, Communications Director of AIDS HealthcareFoundation, +1-323-860-5225