Asia Pacific Network of PLHIV (APN+), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Thai AIDS activists marched against the EU-India Free trade agreement at the opening of the European film festival in Bangkok in mid-October. Activists handed over a petition to representatives of the European Trade Commission demanding the removal of all TRIPS-Plus provisions from the current and all future trade agreements with developing countries. Already the impact of these policies has been felt by patients: under EC customs regulations, legitimate generic medicines destined for developing countries have been detained in European ports, putting the lives of patients at risk. APN+ works closely with MSF’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign in Southeast Asia to add our voices to a growing global campaign to stop Europe’s attempts to restrict access to these medicines for patients in the developing world. Go to http://action.msf.org to sign the petition.
APN+ is also in the process of developing a treatment database that compiles information regarding treatment (diagnostics, costing, programs and policy) in order to provide a snapshot of treatment access in the region in a user-friendly database. Expected to launch in Q1 2011, the data will incorporate indicators and epidemiological stats from the UNAIDS M&E database, AIDS Data hub and World Bank database.
No comments:
Post a Comment