President Obama should meet with directors of independent
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on his November trip to China,
Asia Catalyst said in an open letter today. They are likely to be
followed, threatened, or placed under house arrest during his visit. A
meeting with him would give them some political shelter.English press release (pdf) Letter to President Obama (pdf)
[COMMENTARY] U.S. Should Back the Kids, Not the Pharmaceutical Companies
[:en]By Josh Greenstein
Asia Catalyst’s recent report vividly depicted the barriers Chinese kids face to getting AIDS treatment that they need to survive. One key problem is that powerful U.S. based pharmaceutical companies have made some AIDS drugs extraordinarily expensive – including both second-line drugs that are essential for those who have built up resistance to the first line of AIDS medication, and pediatric medicines. The U.S. government has, until now, backed the pharmaceutical companies in their campaign to penalize countries that dare to invoke their rights to produce these medicines without patents. It is time for the U.S. government and big pharma to get out of the way and allow developing countries to give their citizens the life-saving drugs they desperately need.
