August 2009

Dear Firend:

     There’s an old saying in politics: “Funding follows public interest.”  As the AIDS epidemic moves farther from the center of the public’s radar screen, there is less political will to protect HIV-related funding.  In fact, Gov. Schwarzenegger recently used his line-item veto to remove over $80 million in funding from California’s Office of AIDS, reducing state-funded HIV/AIDS services—such as HIV testing, counseling, prevention education and drug assistance programs—by 80%!

     Because these state dollars cannot be spent on research, AIDS Research Alliance will not be affected directly by these cuts.  In fact, ARA has never received one dollar of state or federal Ryan White funding.  However, many of the AIDS service organizations (ASOs) with which we work very closely—to advance our research—will be harmed significantly.  A few ASOs will be forced to close their doors, leaving some of our research volunteers without much needed care and treatment. 

     These cuts will force private donors, like you, to pay for services previously provided by the state—at a time when the watchdog group, Giving USA, reports that donations to disease-related charities has dropped to levels not seen in five decades! 

     Forcing concerned citizens to choose between HIV-related organizations—or between life-saving research and care services—is not the answer, especially during today’s economic crisis.  If you are in California, I urge you to call your state representatives to voice your concerns. Remember: Funding follows public interest. 

Thank you for your continued and generous support of AIDS Research Alliance!

Carolyn H. Carlburg, JD
Chief Executive Officer

Tony Award nominated Sheryl Lee Ralph is slated to host AIDS Research Alliance’s 20th Gala Awards Ceremony on October 15th, 2009 in Century City, CA. Ms. Ralph can currently be seen in the Broadway-bound musical First Wives Club at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego.

A passionate AIDS activist, Ms. Ralph is the founding director of the DIVA (Divinely Inspired Victoriously Anointed) Foundation that she created in memory of the many friends she had lost to HIV/AIDS. She created the critically acclaimed Divas Simply Singing!, one of the most highly anticipated AIDS benefits in Hollywood, which takes place this year October 10th at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills.

Ms. Ralph was awarded the first Red Ribbon Award at the UN for her unique use of the arts in HIV/AIDS activism. She received a Doctorate in Humane Letters from Tougaloo College for her AIDS activism.

Click here to purchase tickets to the ARA 20th Gala and Awards Ceremony.

The Generic Drug Trade
Balancing between patents and global health.

In 1996, HAART therapy revolutionized HIV/AIDS treatment. Within 4 years death rates in developed countries decreased by 84%. But HAART was prohibitively expensive (US$12,500 per person annually) and therefore inaccessible to largely rural and poor HIV patients in the developing world.

Today there are approximately 33 million people worldwide with AIDS. Many third-world countries are unable to provide their residents with proper medications due to an utter lack of capital to either import drugs or manufacture generic ones. Drug companies, on the other hand, argue that the hundreds of millions of dollars that they must spend on research and develop means that they must protect their patents against generic versions of their branded drugs.

In the early 2000s an Indian pharmaceutical company began producing generic antiretroviral (ARV) medicines that were exactly the same as those made by large pharmaceutical companies, but significantly cheaper.  This began a price war between branded and generic drug makers, which forced the large pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of their AIDS drugs.

The price war, as well as pressure from activists, groups like the Clinton Foundation and governments of poor countries with severe AIDS epidemics, dramatically reduced the price of ARVs for developing countries. By 2007, triple combination therapy was available from Indian generic manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries for as little as to about US$87 per person annually today.

Generic drugs are equivalent to branded drugs in all respects related to their usage and effectiveness. These low-cost drugs have become central components of many HIV programs. In 2008 UNAIDS reported that national governments of 94% of countries with generalized epidemics, and 61% of countries with concentrated epidemics, had national policies for using generics to promote antiretroviral access. Countries such as India, Brazil, Thailand and South Africa are among leading exporters of generic antiretroviral medicines to low and middle-income countries.

In response to this rise in generic drug manufacturing, pharmaceutical companies have fought to balance their needs to make up for heavy drug discovery and trial costs against the pressures of popular opinion and international aid agencies. In 2005 TRIPS—The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights— established the right of the pharmaceutical industry to patent drugs and held all member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) responsible for upholding its provisions.

There are two legal options available to countries seeking generic manufacturing rights:
    • Voluntary licensing holds that a company or government can ask direct permission from patent holders for creating a specific number of generics in the face of a heath emergency. This process can be extremely lengthy and relies on the willingness of the patent holder’s consent.
   • Compulsory licensing allows a country to license a specific drug that can combat a severe health emergency without paying royalties to the patent holder. This option requires that a country have the infrastructure means to manufacture these drugs within its borders as the compulsory licensing does not cover any sort of import or export of the generic drug.

Obama Launches National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions

President Barack Obama announced August 21 the launch of the National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions, a series of nationwide events hosted by the White House Office of National AIDS Policy that will allow the public to actively participate in the promised formation of a national HIV/AIDS strategy. The first event took place this week at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

“HIV remains a serious challenge to the American people, and I am committed to developing an effective National HIV/AIDS Strategy,” Obama said in a statement. “The National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions will provide an opportunity for members of the public to give their input on how we can best address this crucial issue. With the insights from communities across the country, we will have a strategy that is focused on the goals of reducing HIV incidence, getting people living with HIV/AIDS into care and improving health outcomes, and reducing HIV-related health disparities.”

Future community discussions are slated for Washington, DC; New York City; San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, California; Houston; Albuquerque; Jackson, Missouri; Fort Lauderdale; Minneapolis; Columbia, South Carolina; Puerto Rico; and the Virgin Islands.