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AIDS activists disrupt Karl Rove's speech at black tie College Republican soirée
Rove's White House lies about global AIDS funding and access to
generic medicines, while millions die
(Washington, D.C.) Chanting and holding signs reading "Dying for AIDS
drugs? Karl says drop dead" and "Bush's lies kill, generic medicines
now!", angry AIDS activists staged a noisy disruption of an
appearance by top White House advisor Karl Rove at the National
Conference of the College Republican National Committee, at the
Washington Hilton.
"President Bush is breaking his promise to fully fund a $3 billion
global AIDS bill signed into law in June. Bush is breaking his
promise that countries can put access to medicines and public health
ahead of the patent rights of greedy drug companies. The deadly
global AIDS fraud perpetrated by this White House has gone far
enough," said Sean Barry, a protester.
"Rove pulls the strings in this Administration, and Rove has the
blood of people with HIV on his hands."
Two days ago, lawmakers in the House of Representatives, under the
direction of Rove's White House, opposed efforts to fully fund the
bill President Bush signed into law in June that would provide $3
billion in global AIDS funding in 2004, with $1 billion for the
nearly bankrupt Global Fund, the only multilateral program spending
money on treatment for dying people with AIDS.
Experts point out that life saving programs in the hardest hit
countries around the world could readily absorb the $3 billion
promised by Bush; the White House, on the other hand, claims funding
the Global Fund with $1 billion in 2004 would be profligate.
"President Bush just went to Africa, ground zero of the AIDS
catastrophe, and is immediately breaking his promise to fund the
Global Fund with $1 billion in 2004. The White House wants to 'go
slow' on fighting a threat to humanity Secretary of State Colin
Powell calls worse than terrorism. That's criminal," said Danae
McElroy, a protester.
The disruption of Rove's speech comes on the heels of the global AIDS
funding vote in Congress, and on the lead up to crucial talks at the
WTO, at the Cancun Ministerial (Sept 10-14), where US and drug
company intransigence has blocked a deal on access to medicines in
poor countries that lack capacity for efficient domestic
manufacturing. Karl Rove has been linked to intense negotiations with
US drug companies in determining White House policy on what is
considered a make-or-break issue for the Cancun Ministerial. "While
Bush lies about life saving AIDS funding, he's preventing countries
from implementing policy that assures they can maximize medicines
access by purchasing low cost generics," said Sasha Post, a
protester. "The US promised they would permit countries to put public
health before patent rights--for killer Karl, that's just one more
promise to walk away from."
ACTIVISTS DEMAND THE WHITE HOUSE:
--support funding for the Global Fund immediately, by keeping Bush's
promise to spend $3 billion fighting global AIDS in 2004, with $1
billion for the Global Fund
--support a deal at the WTO on access to generics for countries with
inefficient domestic manufacturing capacity that is simple to
implement, doesn't exclude countries with moderate levels of
development, isn't restricted to a list of diseases, and doesn't
force poor countries to enact onerous "safeguards" to prevent
diversion to rich country markets
--stop bilateral and regional trade policies that increase countries'
obligations to protect drug company patent rights at the expense of
public health and access to important medicines
