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"It is crucial for us to stop the negotiations, because our lives are at stake. We are fighting against drug patents with our lives. I know I might get arrested or injured in clashes with police, but we are all willing to face that, because we have more to lose if the talks succeed."
Nopparat Sa-ngiemjitr, an AIDS activist in Thailand, expressed the views of over 2,500 people with HIV who had joined a protest march against the proposed U.S.-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The turnout was extraordinary, but it is no longer unusual to see people with HIV leading protests against free trade proposals.
Around the world - from Guatemala to South Africa, from South Korea to Brazil - people with HIV have learned that the terms of FTAs can be a matter of life and death. And they have hit the streets demanding life.
Unfortunately, they are usually protesting policy demands from the U.S., which typically mirror the demands of the brand-name pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, at times the industry has stated that it effectively drafted U.S. positions in trade negotiations. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which negotiates trade treaties on behalf of the United States, views itself as representing the interests of U.S. exporters, so it is very sympathetic to recommendations from the drug industry, a major campaign contributor that employs hundreds of lobbyists.
The drug industry's wish-list in trade agreements covers an array of technical issues, but most of them boil down to rules that would extend their patents and delay generic competitors from entering the market. more... http://www.acria.org/treatment/treatment_edu_fallupdate2006_trade.html
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