Treatment Action Campaign Statment, 24 January 2002

SUMMARY OF RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE TAC NEC+ MEETING - 19/20 JANUARY 2002

On 19/20 January 2002 the TAC National Executive Committee met with TAC 
staff and representatives of key allies in civil society to discuss our 
objectives and a strategic plan for 2002. The meeting reflected the growth 
of TAC through its campaigns in 2001, with participants from six of South 
Africa's nine provinces, as well as representatives from the labour 
movement, health, religious, NGO and CBO sectors.

The following resolutions were agreed upon.

1.National Treatment Plan

TAC will step up its campaign for the government to develop and adopt a 
national HIV/AIDS treatment plan. To this end, it will campaign for 100% 
coverage of treatment for people with HIV/AIDS who utilise the private 
health sector by the end of 2002. TAC received a report of complaints 
received by the AIDS Law Project regarding limited benefits offered by one 
of South Africa's biggest medical aid schemes, Discovery Health, and 
endorsed a proposal for legal action on behalf of these clients. TAC will 
also consider joining this case.

The TAC will discuss the convening of a national treatment conference in 
May 2002 with some of its allies. In the meantime, TAC will

* continue to campaign for expanded access to anti-retroviral therapy 
according to the strict principles set out in the Bredell Consensus 
Statement;

* continue its research on the economics of a national treatment plan and 
the economic and social benefits of treating people living with AIDS with 
appropriate medicines; and * begin to campaign for drastic reduction in 
the prices of essential diagnostic tools needed in the management of HIV, 
such as PCR and viral load tests.

  2.Mobilisation and Advocacy

TAC supports the call made by the ANC for voluntarism to improve peoples' 
lives. In particular, TAC will, during the month of April, mobilise it's 
supporters in voluntary activities that aim to improve health care 
services.

TAC recognises that preventing HIV and treating AIDS also requires support 
for programmes that aim to alleviate poverty. In this respect, TAC agreed 
to a request to organise a march in Cape Town on 20 February 2002- Budget 
Day- to call for a basic income grant.

TAC noted that in August 2002, the African Union will be launched in Cape 
Town. TAC believes that the building of a Pan African treatment access 
movement is a priority and will use the launch of the African Union to 
convene a meeting of African treatment activists in Cape Town.  3.Legal 
action and litigation

TAC believes that in spite of the price reductions on many essential 
anti-retroviral medicines that occurred in 2001, these medicines remain 
exorbitantly priced and, therefore, unaffordable for sustained and 
widespread use in developing countries.  We believe that competition in 
the market for essential medicines is vital to the reduction of prices.  
We have instructed our attorneys to examine legal strategies to obtain 
compulsory licences on essential medicines.  In the short term, we will 
support the complaint made by the Indian generic pharmaceutical company, 
CIPLA, against GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim at the Competition 
Commission.  Further details of this strategy will be announced in due 
course.  TAC regrets the government's decision to appeal against the 
Pretoria High Court judgement on mother-to -child HIV transmission 
prevention (mtctp).  While it is agreed that the judgement raises 
important constitutional questions-this was the whole basis of TAC's  case 
- we do not believe that it will succeed and are concerned that the time 
taken by the appeal will ultimately be measured in the wasted lives of 
infants born with preventable HIV infection. To this end, we make two 
calls :

* The government announced a national consultation to review the mtctp 
programme.  The date for this consultation needs to be announced urgently 
and we ask the government to recommit itself to making this consultation 
inclusive and to abide by its recommendations. * In its court papers, the 
government accepted the safety and efficacy of Nevirapine.  We, therefore, 
appeal to the government not to oppose the application that will be 
launched by the TAC for the execution of orders of Judge Chris Botha that 
doctors be allowed to prescribe Nevirapine outside of pilot sites where 
capacity for HIV testing and counselling exists and where there has been 
consultation with the Medical Superintendent.

TAC believes that there is sufficient scientific evidence to support the 
efficacy and safety of the prescription of anti-retrovirals to victims of 
rape.  We call for an end to the persecution of doctors who are guided by 
their ethical duty to act in the best interests of their patients.  We 
call on the government to abide by the consensus in medical science and to 
allow and facilitate the prescription of these medicines where the 
informed consent of a rape victim has been obtained. Although TAC can look 
back on 2001 with pride and point to significant victories in our 
campaigns, the greatest challenges remain ahead.  According to the Medical 
Research Council, nearly six million South Africans live with HIV/AIDS and 
the need to improve health services and access to medicines for these 
people, as well as for people with other preventable illnesses, remains 
great.  We call on government, the business sector, churches, trade unions 
and all of civil society to unite behind this objective.

Issued by Mark Heywood
TAC National Secretary
On behalf of the TAC national Executive Committee

24 January 2002