This is an archive of the Treatment Action Campaign's public documents from December 1998 until October 2008. I created this website because the TAC's website appears unmaintained and people were concerned that it
was becoming increasingly hard to find important documents.

The menu items have been slightly edited and a new stylesheet applied to the site. But none of the documents have been edited, not even for minor errors. The text appears on this site as obtained from the Internet Archive.

The period covered by the archive encompassed the campaign for HIV medicines, the civil disobedience campaigns, the Competition Commission complaints, the 2008 xenophobic violence and the PMTCT, Khayelitsha health workers and Matthias Rath court cases.

 
  [TAC Homepage] 

Pfizer's Response to TAC's Demands 
 
235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10027-5755

Pfizer
 

March 31, 2000
 

Mr. Mark Heywood
HIV & AIDS Treatment Action Campaign
P.O. Box 31104
Braamfontein 2017, Johannesburg
South Africa

Dear Mr. Heywood

We have received your response to our letter regarding the availability of Pfizer’s anti-fungal treatment, Diflucan® (fluconazole) in South Africa.

As you know, Diflucan is an indicated treatment for cryptococcal meningitis, a serious infection of the brain that affects about eight percent of people with AIDS.  Cryptococcal meningitis is but one of the numerous serious issues that have to be addressed in a comprehensive public health approach to dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Accurate diagnosis and careful monitoring of treatment are critical to the effective use of Diflucan.

I am sure you will agree that an appropriate response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic must be made with consideration for safe, ethical treatment, in full coordination with the South African government, and through the appropriate medical infrastructure.  Hence, we have requested a meeting with the Ministry of Health to seek their advice and collaboration in a program to deliver Diflucan free of charge through appropriate medical specialists for South African HIV/AIDS patients suffering from cryptococcal meningitis who cannot afford this treatment.

We reiterate our request to meet with you to discuss the status of the program as it develops.

Sincerely
 
 

Dr. George Flouty

c.c. Farid Esack.