A two-day meeting of HIV/AIDS activists and organisations from 21 African countries, held in Cape Town from 22 to 24 August, has issued a set of demands launching a Pan-African HIV/AIDS Treatment Access Movement.
The Movement's founding declaration demands immediate implementation of the World Health Organisation’s proposal that antiretroviral treatment (HAART) should be available to at least three million people in developing countries by 2005. ‘We insist that access to ARV therapy is not only an ethical imperative, but will also strengthen prevention efforts, increase uptake of voluntary counselling and testing, reduce the incidence of opportunistic infections, and reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS – including the number of orphans – on families, communities and economies.’
This is the basis for detailed calls:
- to African governments, to meet the commitments made by heads of state in Abuja, 2001, on health spending and to implement a wide range of policies for HIV treatment, care and prevention and remove obstacles including taxes on medicines and diagnostics
- to OECD countries including the United States and European Union to increase international funding, to stop pressuring developing countries to scale back treatment proposals or adopt policies which would limit treatment access, and to invest more in research on treatment drugs, diagnostics, vaccines and microbicides.
- to UN agencies to carry out their mandates while resisting political interference by member states, to develop health strategies and provide technical assistance.
- to pharmaceutical companies to cut prices for drugs and diagnostics, license products to generic companies for sale in developing countries, and provide lifelong treatment for participants in clinical trials.
- to businesses in Africa to support their own staff, implement non-discrimination policies and undertake a range of efforts in support of HIV prevention, care and treatment.
The meeting called for no less than three ‘Global Days of Action’; on 9 October, focused on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; on 17 October, directed at multinational companies; and on 1 December, World AIDS Day, as a “global day for access to HIV/AIDS treatment”.
For the full text of the statement, in Microsoft Word, follow this link. It is also available in plain text here.
The Abuja Declaration of April 2001 is available here.