12 January 2003 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP ORGANISE AND MOBILISE MARCH FOR TREATMENT IN CAPE TOWN ON 14 FEBRUARY - Meet at COSATU offices on Thursday 16 January at 16:30 - Any ideas for assisting or mobilising in your community? Please email info@tac.org.za In this e-newsletter: * TAC calls for individuals and organisations to help mobilise for a march to the US Consulate and the opening of Parliament in Cape Town on 14 February 2003. A march planning meeting will take place on Thursday 16 January at 16:30 at Cosatu's offices, 358 Victoria Road, Salt River. Organisations or individuals interested in assisting with organising the march are encouraged to come along. Please contact Rukia Cornelius at 021 788 3507 for further details. The meeting will start with a 30 minute introduction to the Treatment and Prevention Plan negotiated at Nedlac, which Government and Business are yet to sign. * Edited letter by TAC to the US Ambassador requesting the US Government to accept a memorandum from the marchers on 14 February. The letter explains why TAC is disappointed with the US Government's management of the global HIV epidemic. * Letter by TAC to Merck regarding the price of Efavirenz and the need for Merck to register its new 600mg Efavirenz tablet in South Africa. **************************************************************** TAC Calls for Organisations and Individuals to Help Mobilise for a March to the Opening of Parliament on 14 February 2003 ------------------------------------------------------ The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has called for a march for treatment to Parliament and the US Consulate in Cape Town on 14 February 2003. The event will begin at 11am at the Cape Town Civic Centre. It will proceed from 12pm to the US Consulate. Then it will proceed to the opening of Parliament. We have called for a march to Parliament to call on Government to sign and implement the treatment plan negotiated at Nedlac. If Government fails to sign the agreement by the end of February, TAC will begin a civil disobedience campaign in March. We have called for a march to the US consulate because the US Government and other G7 countries have a moral imperative to commit resources, expertise and finance to alleviating the worldwide HIV epidemic. The GFATM has received commitments valued at $2.1 billion over a 4 year period. This is pitifully short of the $10 billion per year that Kofi Annan has called for and insignificant compared to US expenditure on its war against terrorism and the increasingly likely war against Iraq. Furthermore, at recent WTO negotiations in Geneva, the US scuttled the Doha agreement which made it easier for developing world countries to buy affordable generic medicines. Help Save Lives! Join the March for Treatment on 14 February! ********************************************** EDITED VERSION OF LETTER SENT BY TAC TO US AMBASSADOR The Ambassador United States of America PO Box 6773 Roggebaai, 8012 Fax: 021 425-4151 10 January 2003 By Fax and Registered Mail Dear Sir Request for US Government to Accept Memorandum on 14 February On 14 February, the Treatment Action Campaign is hosting a march for HIV/AIDS treatment to the opening of Parliament in Cape Town. [SNIP] The purpose of the march will be to highlight what the US and South African Governments can do to facilitate wider access to HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa and the developing world. We wish to express out dissatisfaction that no substantive response has been received by the US Government following the delivery of a memorandum by the TAC to the consulates in Johannesburg and Durban on 9 October 2002. We are also angered that the US scuttled the Doha agreement in Geneva late last year. As global citizens, we are alarmed at the escalation of war-talk by the Bush Administration, especially when insufficient funds and leadership are being directed towards alleviating the global HIV epidemic and world poverty. Thank you for considering our request. We look forward to your response. [SNIP] Yours sincerely Zackie Achmat (TAC Chairperson) Nathan Geffen (TAC National Manager) **************************** LETTER SENT BY TAC TO MERCK REGARDING PRICE OF EFAVIRENZ AND REGISTRATION OF 600mg TABLET Mr. Deon Vos (Chief Executive Office, South Africa) and Mr. Raymond V. Gilmartin (Chief Executive Officer) Merck & Co., Inc. PO Box 1998 Halfway House 1685 Fax: 011 372 5251 10 January 2003 By Fax and Registered Mail Dear Mr. Vos and Mr. Gilmartin Registration of 600mg Efavirenz Pills in South Africa Last year, newspaper reports in South Africa and internationally indicated that Merck was going to reduce the price of Efavirenz by 25%. Subsequently the price of Efavirenz went up in South Africa. The price of a pack of 90 200mg capsules went from R388 to R434. (It has been brought to our attention that Merck intends to reduce this price again next week.) Merck explained that the price reduction applied only to its 600mg Efavirenz tablet which is not registered in South Africa. Putting aside the ethics of promoting non-existent price reductions in the media, the 600mg Efavirenz tablet would be more convenient for most adult patients than the current 200mg capsules available in South Africa, because most patients using Efavirenz as part of triple-drug therapy could then take one tablet instead of three capsules daily. Lower antiretroviral pill counts are associated with better patient adherence. Furthermore the 200mg capsule is important for paediatric use and therefore it is just as crucial for a substantial price reduction on this version of the drug. We therefore wish to urge Merck to register its 600mg tablet of Efavirenz in South Africa. Until registration occurs, we urge Merck to apply for a Section 21 exemption in order to allow patients to begin using the 600mg version as soon as possible. We also urge Merck to substantially reduce the price of a pack of 90 200mg Efavirenz capsules. There are bioequivalent generic antiretroviral regimens available in many countries now for just over R300 per month. Therefore, there is no reason why a single non-nucleoside drug should cost as much as Stocrin. We look forward to your urgent reply. Yours sincerely Zackie Achmat (TAC Chairperson) Nathan Geffen (TAC National Manager) CC: Precious Matsoso, Registrar of Medicines, Medicines Control Council by fax: 012 323 4474 *********************** To subscribe, email news-subscribe@tac.org.za To unsubscribe, email news-unsubscribe@tac.org.za [ENDS]