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AFRICA: "Free trade doesn't work for the dead" - Health GAP

    JOHANNESBURG

    US HIV/AIDS lobby group the Health Global Access Project (Health GAP) at the weekend said a modest expansion of trade would be of little comfort to millions of Africans who are dying of HIV/AIDS.

    In a statement before his trip to Southern Africa, US trade representative Robert E. Zoellick said a future free-trade zone would "give new hope and economic opportunity to the people of Southern Africa by increasing trade".

    Zoellick's trip to Southern Africa this week is expected to be met by protests from HIV/AIDS activists and officials with questions about US policies on HIV/AIDS treatment access.

    African countries are concerned that the US blocked a trade deal last month that would have allowed poor countries to import generic versions of patented medicines without a time restriction.

    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

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