Stop the trial against people with AIDS

Demonstration Friday the 2nd March in front of Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen.

Back in 1997 Nelson Mandela signed a law which enables import and production of cheap copied medicine for the South African people, especially for the fifth of the population that are HIV positive or have AIDS.

The pharmaceutical companies Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk claims that this law is violating their right to profit from their development of products. In co-operation with 39 other western pharmaceutical companies they have filed a lawsuit against the South African government with the goal to change the law. The suit has so far postponed the coming into force of the Act for more than three years.

It is both sordid and disgraceful that Danish companies take part in a trial, which in the end is about stopping a possibility for poor people’s access to essential medicine. Novo-Nordisk and Lundbech has to withdraw their support for the lawsuit. Without cheap medicine many of the world’s poor patients will die. It is as simple as that.

Mandelas law is an important factor in the fight against the catastrophe of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa. All sectors and all countries must help South Africa to manage the AIDS pandemic and to fight it as well as other life threatening diseases. We expect Novo Nordisk and Lundbeck to withdraw from the trial and that the Danish government actively supports the poor countries’ right to produce and import cheap medicine.

The demonstration is arranged by:

Aids-linien – the Aids line
AIF, The Labour Movement’s International Forum
Danish Association for International Cooperation (MS)
Hiv-Denmark
Ibis
Medicines sans Frontieres
Positivgruppen - The Positiv-group
Stop AIDS
Southern Africa Contact
The Danish AIDS Foundation International Forum
The Danish Family Planning Association
Women and Development

More information:
Berit Asmussen, Policy Advisor,
Danish Association for International Cooperation (MS)