Part 2, DC follow up

Good Monday Morning!

In continuation of the conversations I started last week regarding the IAC and my trip, I’d like to address the next couple sets of Highs and Lows. 

High: the conference was back in the US for the first time in 22 years, because President Obama changed a US Visa policy with regard to people who are HIV Positive, allowing them to enter the country again.

Low: In the midst of new statistics showing that the “global South” is actually progressing in their fight against HIV/AIDS, we find a Major Pharma Company is challenging the Patent Laws of India to essentially REMOVE a generic version of a drug from the market, and increase the price of close to TEN TIMES what it is currently selling for.  This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a Drug company fighting to have a patent placed on a drug that has already expired and the generic version has already been made available.  (Imagine, if suddenly, tomorrow, Tylenol brand was able to stop Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Smiths, from making the generic version of their pain reliever and you HAD to go back to buying Brand Name Tylenol all over again!)

It was mentioned early, and It has been mentioned often since the decision was announced so many months ago. But I have to say how exciting and invigorating it was to be in a new era.  After a years long policy of prohibiting entry into the country for people who are HIV+; President Obama repealed this rule, and made it possible for the first time in 22 years to hold the conference here again.  22 years. The new generation of HIV/AIDS medications has been developed since then. The Number of estimated people living with HIV/AIDS went from roughly 6 million to 22million worldwide.  RENT was written and became a Broadway hit in that time period! These are just a few of the landmark things that have happened in this time period since the last time this conference was held here in the US.  I’m glad that the conference has not been in the US every year, all the time, saying to the world w are the center of everything.  But with all the new advancements, and the fact that the first one was held here; it is kind of sad that we went 22 years without.   I’m beyond glad that this opportunity was made to so many Americans, to be a part of the conference! 

Low: Generic drugs being pulled back off the market, due to trade deals and capitalism gone awry.

This is going to be the STRONGEST argument I have against unbridled capitalism ever.  I offer this.  People are people, and people suffering from deserve to be living with HIV. (This applies, really, to any chronic illness in my opinion but this is obviously my focus.)  What is the difference?  Well, in today’s medical world, there are amazing treatments for HIV that help curb the amount of the virus in your body, make it less susceptible to opportunistic diseases and provide longer healthier lives.    But not everyone who is positive has the access to such treatments.  Novartis, a company that manufactures medications, globally, has recently challenged India’s laws regarding patented medication and generic Medicines.    Essentially, without getting into the minutiae of Indian Patent Law, Novartis is challenging India’s ability under their own constitution to create a generic HIV medication that currently allows thousands of people to access cheaper medications.  If they win the country will have to go back to only using the brand-name medication, after the medication itself has been available generically since 2006. 

Capitalists are asking for MORE regulation to decrease competition in the market.  They are asking for an opportunity to make medications that save lives less accessible, in order to protect their monetary assets in one specific market.  I am constantly told that corporate greed isn’t such, and that unbridled capitalism is good for us, and that the market will sort itself out. Well, I’m inclined to believe, from things like this, differently.  I’d like to see the advocates of such unregulated capitalism explain to a woman in India that there is a larger picture for the greater good that will come out of making the cost of her medications ten times higher. 

I had a friend once who said she believed in a capitalist economy with a socialist conscience.  I’m learning now, such a thing is impossible to achieve.  All I can really say, is shame on these companies for looking only at their profit margins, I know that is the reason for businesses to begin with, but when the product or service you offer is necessary for the continued life of individual people, with families, children and parents, you owe society more than the bottom line.