Category Archives: News

Student Stop AIDS campaigners staged a snowy protest today outside Johnson & Johnson, maker of the famous ‘no more tears’ baby products, demanding to know whether their Christmas present to the world would include entering negotiations to join the Patent Pool, an initiative which will provide life-saving HIV medicines to the nine million people still waiting for treatment around the world.

Johnson & Johnson, who are likely to be making their decision on the Patent Pool soon, are one of the few pharmaceutical giants not yet in negotiations over joining. They make a number of vital HIV drugs most of which currently cost thousands of pounds a year in many developing countries, pricing them out of the reach of the poor people who need them.

Their decision is being eagerly anticipated by Student Stop AIDS Campaigners across theUKwho last week delivered a petition with 24,414 signatures from members of the public wanting them to join.  Campaigners say that a positive decision would be widely celebrated, but a refusal to negotiate would be met with increased pressure and new tactics.

Student Stop AIDS Campaign coordinator Lotti Rutter said, “Johnson & Johnson’s decision is being watched carefully by campaigners across the world. A negative decision would fly in the face of their public image as a family-friendly company. We hope they make the right choice, but a refusal to join talks to enter the Patent Pool would mean they are closing the door on an initiative which could help countless parents and babies access life-saving HIV drugs. If they say no, we definitely won’t be going away.”

The Patent Pool, which is supported by theUKand US governments, is an innovative approach to tackling the barriers to affordable HIV medicines, creating a one-stop-shop which would make it easier for generic manufacturers to produce affordable, effective drugs. Established by UNITAID in September 2010, it has already agreed licences with pharmaceutical giant,Gilead, and is currently in negotiations with five other pharmaceutical companies including GlaxoSmithKline to reach agreement on their participation.

Johnson & Johnson’s refusal so far to enter talks has particularly angered campaigners as the National Institutes of Health, theUSgovernment’s medical research arm, has already reached agreement with the Patent Pool for the rights they own on Darunavir – a promising new HIV drug that could be particularly useful for people living with HIV whose current medication is failing. Johnson & Johnson own the rest of the patent rights, so by turning their backs on the Patent Pool they are effectively blocking access to Darunavir for those who may die without it.

Rachel Edwards, a member of the Student Stop AIDS Campaign said, “One of the problems in the past has been companies making small, tokenistic efforts to ease access to treatment. The Medicines Patent Pool is a solution which aims to be industry-wide, matching the scale of the challenge. If J&J’s decision is negative we won’t stop campaigning – with so many millions waiting for HIV treatment we will keep pressuring J&J to join until they change their mind.”

AIDS campaigners presented 24,414 signed action cards to baby product manufacture Johnson and Johnson on Wednesday, urging them to join the Medicine Patent Pool.

The company, which produces vital HIV drugs, has in the past refused to join the pool, denying millions of people access to life-saving treatments. But campaigners hope that the commitment of thousands to the patent pool campaign will push the company into joining.

Johnson and Johnson produces several HIV drugs and partly owns the rights to Darunavir, an expensive medicine which is not widely available. Generic access to the drug could help thousands of people living with HIV whose current medication is failing them. Student Stop AIDS Campaigners, have for the past year, been urging them to join the Medicine Patent pool, where companies hand over their patent rights and allow generic companies to make and sell their drugs at affordable prices.

Student Stop AIDS Campaign coordinator,Lotti Ruttersaid: “Johnson and Johnson refusing the join the patent pool conflicts with their public image and their child friendly “No More Tears” slogan. They are turning their backs on an initiative which could help millions of children and adults gain access to vital HIV treatment.”

Since launching the patent pool campaign in January the Student Stop AIDS Campaigners have already successfully encouraged several major pharmaceutical companies to join, including Viiv andGilead. Campaigners stepped up their pressure on Johnson and Johnson in March, with more than 100 people staging a “pool party” protest outside Johnson and Johnson offices and aroundLondon.

They also used social media to challenge the company to take action, using Facebook and Twitter to get the message across and urge the company to take action. As well as signing the action cards thousands of people went online to put their name to a petition to get Johnson and Johnson to join the patent pool.

Lotti said: “There has been so much support for the campaign; we just hope that this time Johnson and Johnson listen and join the Medicine Patent Pool.”

Johnson and Johnson are due to announce their decision on 19 December at a Medicine Patent Pool meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, used his World AIDS Day message to champion the advances the UK has helped to deliver in the global effort to tackle HIV which mean we can now set our sights on bringing an end to AIDS. But the consequences of a cash crisis at the Global Fund are dominating activists’ thoughts on December 1st. (more…)

Last week the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria was forced to take the unprecedented and potentially devastating decision to cancel all new programming until 2014 due to a severe lack of funds. (more…)

Every year on the 1^st of December millions of people from around the globe come together to spread the word about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, remember those who have died as a result of the virus and to show solidarity for those living with HIV.

In the UK in particular, there can be an attitude towards the pandemic as something that has been dealt with. Although amazing progress has been made in tackling the virus, 33.4 million people are currently living with the virus, 9,000 of who live in the UK. World AIDS Day is an opportunity to remind everybody that HIV/AIDS response is of utmost importance and put pressure on governments and pharmaceutical companies to commit to confront the pandemic.

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On the 27^th October, a grey drizzly evening, 67 eager listeners crowded into a slightly-too-small room to see the Student Stop AIDS National Speaker Tour visit The School of Oriental and African Studies. Students, lecturers, development workers and parents sat (and stood), captivated by this year’s speakers, Viktor and Lea and the experiences they shared with us.

Hilarious but sometimes heart-breaking, Lea, from Bedford, took us through the life she has led, as a woman, as a mother and as a person living with HIV. It was refreshing to have a speaker who was evidently naturally witty and was able to cast a positive light on HIV/AIDS and the incredible treatment that is available for the virus. When asked “How have you found approaching relationships since you received your HIV positive status?” she replied “To be honest, the men come to me.” Viktor, from Nigeria, explained how stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS, especially for men who have sex with men and other vulnerable groups, can be devastating.

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Many of you reading this will have seen Hillary Clinton deliver an inspirational speech this week at the National Institute of Health in Washington DC. Calling for an ‘AIDS Free Generation’, the Secretary of State stressed the importance of continuing the hard work that has allowed the HIV/AIDS response the incredible success achieved over the last decade.

She noted that “the past 30 years has been a remarkable journey, but there’s still a long, hard road ahead of us”. At the Stop AIDS Campaign we are all too aware of the critical moment we have reached in the response and the significance of pushing for maintaining investment, both financially and politically, in the battle against HIV/AIDS. It’s fantastic to have someone in such a far-reaching position that is clearly on the same page.

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Los Angeles, 15^th June 1981. 5 young, previously healthy men were reported with a pneumocystis pneumonia, a type of pneumonia only prevalent where immune systems have totally collapsed. The first recorded cases of HIV/AIDS were the beginning of a flood of confusion and fear carried by the complete incomprehension of how the virus was transmitted or how to treat it.

30 years later and HIV is no longer a death sentence. We have incredible treatments which prolong the life expectancy of those with AIDS and enable them to live normal and healthy lives. We understand what increases the spread of HIV infections and how to stop mother to child transmission in order counteract HIV in new-borns.

Since the creation of the Stop AIDS Campaign ten years ago we have been privileged to watch, and be a part of, some amazing advances in the HIV/AIDS response: The creation of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria in 2002 and subsequent 6.5 million lives saved by AIDS treatment provided by them. The recent conception of the Medicines Patent Pool and the rise in access to HIV/AIDS drugs that this will provide.

With all these incredible improvements it is possible to slip into dangerous territory. Now is not the time to sit back and consider the high mortality rate of HIV/AIDS a thing of the 80’s, distinct from humanity today. Even though the rate of new HIV infections declined by 25% from 2001 to 2009, there were still 2.6 million new cases reported in 2010 and 9 million people still can’t access to the essential drugs they need to live.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is gradually slipping off the political agenda and financial support is becoming harder to recruit. We need to fight more than ever for those 9 million people living with HIV who can’t get the medicines they need, we need to make it clear that the current response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic just isn’t good enough.