From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERstate-of-the-art treatment, free of charge. Anti-discrimination lawswere passed to protect citizens living with HIV and AIDS. Co-operationagreements between political parties safeguarded these laws and thehealth budget, providing continuity of the programme despitechanges in governments.Brazil took to the world stage to surmount a huge barrier thatkeeps poor countries from providing free, universal access to ARVs:their cost, which is kept artificially high by overly strict patent rules.Brazil led the way at the WTO Ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar,arguing successfully for allowing developing countries to break drugpatents for compelling reasons of public health. Brazil had alreadypassed legislation permitting the manufacture of generic versions ofpatented medicines and now produces eight out of 17 of its AIDSmedicines itself, reducing costs by 82 per cent. It also uses the threatof issuing compulsory licences to its generic companies for otherpatented drugs to bargain down prices.The Brazilian government has established an impressive networkof clinics, built on the existing public health system, and has providedadditional training to health workers on helping patients on antiretroviraltreatments to take their medicines correctly. A computerisednational system allows authorities to exert rigorous control over thesupply and distribution of medicines. This makes it possible for healthofficials to track each individual case of AIDS in the country, to accessmedical notes and histories from a bar-coded card held by the patient,and to monitor and update the drug regimen for each case from any ofthe 111 treatment centres across the country. Other state, private sector,and civil society institutions help out by providing free bus passes toAIDS patients, and have also donated food and baby formula.AIDS AND AIDAid donors have made a belated, but welcome, commitment to assistpoor countries in the fight against pandemics by setting up the GlobalFund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Proposed by the formerUN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001, the Global Fund wasquickly embraced by the leaders of the G8. It seeks to strengthencountries’ health systems and pays for medicines, diagnostic kits, andother medical equipment. This unique international public–private236