Mr Mark Heywood
Deputy Chairperson
Treatment Action Campaign
P.O. Box 31104
Johannesburg
South Africa

6 July 2000

Dear Mr Heywood

I received your letter of 4 July yesterday, revisiting the issue of industry
participation at the end of your Global March for Access to HIV/AIDS
Treatment - inviting a person from our industry who can be there to receive
your petition.

I have seen our companies renewing their efforts to try to meet the demands
of patients in Africa and elsewhere for improved access to HIV/AIDS
treatments.  It is they that took recent initiatives with the UN agencies.
It is still governments that are slow or even not moving to take advantage
of these efforts.  A few governments still hold out because they allege the
drugs are 'toxic'.

Yet, you still make the industry - despite this reality - the number one
enemy of AIDS patients.  As I read your message of 3 July posted on the
Treatment Access Network and more recently the press clippings from South
Africa today, you still call the industry 'malicious' and even suggest suing
one major company in response to its offer of donations to South Africa.

Now, I ask: How can any reasonable person to go out and accept
such a petition in light of the above facts?  Industry, along with the UN
agencies, is trying to get governments to act.  Yet, under your
scenario,industry is supposed to accept a petition - and under a barrage of
accusations from TAC that it has basically been unresponsive.

We had a chance to meet in New York in December at the meeting
called by Secretary General Kofi Annan, and we would like
certainly to work together with serious activist groups like the TAC. But
the terms have to be fair and respectful.  We cannot work as long as what
the industry does positively is ignored or treated negatively.

Sincerely

Dr Harvey E Bale, Jr
Director-General, IFPMA

Comments on Bale's email:

* This was Bale's 2nd letter refusing to accept the memorandum at the Durban
March.

* Bale implies that we have been unwilling to negotiate with the
pharmaceutical industry. Recently we agreed to a meeting with all the major
pharmaceutical companies. The date of the meeting had been set and it was
all ready to go. At the last minute, the pharmaceutical companies pulled out
for no apparent reason. Bale's email ignores that it is the pharmaceutical
industry that time and again has refused to negotiate with TAC. Bale's
letter admits that the industry will not negotiate with us because we are
critical of them.

* TAC always welcomes positive steps made by the pharmaceutical industry,
though such steps have been few and far between. We welcomed the Pfizer
announcement on free fluconazole. We welcomed the Boehringer Ingleheim offer
of free nevirapine. We are indeed considering litigation against Pfizer,
because despite their offer of free fluconazole to HIV+ people with
cryptococcal meningitis, the offer has not been extended to systemic thrush
and the price of fluconazole is absurdly high.

* Bale's letter shows the callousness and lack of tact that we have come to
expect from a multi-billion dollar industry that is quite prepared to
sacrifice lives for massive profits.