April 17, 2001
President George W. Bush
Sent Via Facsimile Transmission to (202) 456-2461,
Dear President Bush,
As described in our letter to you dated March 5, 2001, on February 18, 1998, 39
pharmaceutical manufacturers brought a lawsuit against the Government of the
Republic of South Africa aiming to prevent implementation of the Medicines
and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, No. 90 of 1997. This legislation,
which has now been blocked for three years, aims to address the lack of
access to affordable medicines in South Africa by promoting the use of generic
substitution and by permitting the parallel importation of medicines. On
behalf of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), I am writing once
again to request urgent action from your administration on this landmark
case, which resumes in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, tomorrow, April
18, 2001. We strongly urge you to state publicly and unequivocally U.S. support
of South Africa's right to use legal measures that comply with international
trade agreements, namely the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), to improve access to
essential medicines (including anti-retrovirals effective against HIV/AIDS).
As you may be aware, in the six weeks that the court postponed the case to
allow the South African Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association to provide
evidence defending their high prices, an estimated 30,000 more people have died of
AIDS-related causes in South Africa, the vast majority of whom did not have
access to life-saving medicines. This is simply indefensible.
Over the past six weeks, MSF and other non-governmental organizations
throughout the world have been circulating a global petition urging the
companies involved in the lawsuit, many of which are U.S.-based, to withdraw
from the lawsuit immediately. Over 250,000 individuals and organizations
from over 130 countries around the world have signed the petition. Dozens of
prominent individuals in the medical and scientific community have added
their names to the growing list of petition signatories, including David Ho,
M.D., 1996 Time Magazine "Man of the Year" for his path-breaking research
into antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS care, and William Prusoff, PhD,
discoverer of the anti-AIDS drug d4T.
In addition, a growing number of political leaders from around the
world-including former South African President Nelson Mandela, Director
General of the World Health Organization Gro Harlem Brundtland, and the European
Parliament-have called on the companies to withdraw from the case. We urge
you to demonstrate leadership in the fight against the global AIDS pandemic by
publicly supporting South Africa's efforts to improve access to essential
medicines.
We trust that you will not ignore this plea made by hundreds of thousands
around the world. We look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
Nicolas de Torrente
cc: Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
E-mail to president@whitehouse.gov, and U.S. Mail
Executive Director
Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health & Human Services, U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services
Robert Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative
Joseph Papovich, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Services,
Investment, and Intellectual Property
Scott Evertz, Director, Office of National AIDS Policy
Congressional Black Caucus