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2010, year of broken promises?

Activists interrupted French Aids ambassador Debré

Sunday 18 July 2010

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Vienna, Sunday July the 18th

Today, activists from organizations of people living with HIV, including Act Up-Paris, interrupted the french AIDS ambassador PatriceDebré. He has held the position for 14 months now. In that time, 2 500000 people died of AIDS because they did not haveaccess to medicine.The activists demanded that the french AIDS ambassador answer the following question :"how will it be possible to enroll new people in treatment, with noadditional money, and while fighting against policies to lower the price of drugs?"

American activists joined the protest, and called on ambassador Eric Goosby to fight to keep the US promise to fund global AIDS at $48 billion over 5 years. Activists also delivered a sign on letter calling for full funding of all world leaders, signed by over 200 organizations from all continents

2010 was supposed to be the year of the universal access to treatmentagainst HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. 2010 will be the year of G8 countries broken promises. 2010 is year of funding replenishment for the Global Fund tofight AIDS, TB and malaria. To this date, France has not given anysingle sign showing that it would increase significally itscontribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria.Without an increase of at least 30% of its contribution (of100 million dollars each year), it will not be possible to apply new WHO guidelines to begin treatment earlier, and to ensure access to second and third line drugs for allwho need it.

The US has not scaled up funding to the levels authorized by congress, which has led to waiting lists for treatment in at least four highly-impacted countries.
2010 is the year of the war against generics. Indeed, 2010 is the yearof ACTA (anti-counterfeiting trade agreements) and FTA (free tradeagreements) between India and European Union, agreements that will, ifsigned, hinder dramatically the production and the exportation of cheapgeneric drugs.

Act Up-Paris still asks :
 Patrice Debré to quit
 France to triple its contribution to the Global Fund to fight AIDS,TB and malaria
 to renounce, jointly with the EU free trade agreements with India
 to US, France and the EU to jointly renounce ACTA.