GOVERNMENT PAPER CALLS ON WEST TO RELAX

UNCLAS HARARE 001615 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO ZI SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT PAPER CALLS ON WEST TO RELAX PATENT PROTECTION AND IMPROVE AFRICAN ACCESS TO ARV DRUGS ¶1. Under headline "AIDS statistics sobering" the government-controlled weekly "The Sunday News" dedicated its July 7 editorial to calling on Western countries to "amend intellectual property regulations" so as to pave the way for African countries to manufacture low-cost antiretroviral drugs. Excerpts: ¶2. ". . .The statistics for Africa are worrying. A total of 28 million Africans are infected, more than two thirds of people who die of HIV-related illnesses live in sub-Saharan Africa. In Western countries, antiretroviral drugs have reduced HIV to a manageable chronic illness rather than a death sentence. The World Trade Organization and its powerful leaders in the United States and Europe should amend intellectual property regulations to allow African countries to manufacture cheap antiretroviral drugs or to import these life-saving medicines at a discount. African governments cannot win the AIDS fight alone." SULLIVAN