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Delegates attending the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban were shocked when it became known that one of the leading AIDS lobbying groups, ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) had received funding from one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, Merck, Sharp and Dome (MSD), which manufactures the drug Crixivan.
The admission was made by MSD’s public affairs director Geoffrey Sturchio, after ACT-UP took over the exhibition stall of Boerhinger-Ingelheim which this week said it had made important progress in its research in proving that Nevarapine was effective in preventing the mother-to-child-transmission of HIV. Both companies are major sponsors of the conference.
ACT-UP has been one of the most aggressive lobbying groups in its call for international drug companies to provide equal access to AIDS drugs to all people living with HIV/AIDS. On Tuesday it demonstrated against the refusal by the UN’s World Health Organisation to place AIDS drugs on its essential drug lists.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
