HIV/AIDS: COUNTERING VATICAN MISCONCEPTIONS ON

UNCLAS VATICAN 001389

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPT. FOR EUR/WE: LEVIN; EB/TPP/MTA/IPC:WILSON;
S/GAC:BLACK, DYBUL

E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: PREL SOCI TBIO VT
SUBJECT: HIV/AIDS: COUNTERING VATICAN MISCONCEPTIONS ON
MEDICINES AND U.S. EFFORTS


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SUMMARY
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1.(SBU) Ambassador and several U.S. pharmaceutical
executives met April 2 with the heads of three Holy See
departments to set the record straight on U.S. policy on
HIV/AIDS and the actions of U.S. drug companies to
facilitate the accessibility of HIV/AIDS medicines. The
Embassy developed this initiative in response to statements
of Vatican and other Catholic officials accusing American
drug companies of excessive profit-making in the developing
world, and charging the USG with seeking to protect the
industry at the expense of HIV/AIDS sufferers in Africa.
The Ambassador outlined the President's Emergency Plan for
HIV/AIDS Relief, and emphasized the administration's
efforts to provide pharmaceuticals that are safe,
effective, and affordable to those in need of them. The
industry reps noted that their companies sold medicines at
no profit to sub-Saharan African nations and had no desire
or intention of blocking generic production of drugs under
their patents in these least developed nations. They said
their companies' price of production of anti-retroviral
medicines had already been reduced to about a dollar per
day per person. Generic producers, they added, had yet to
prove that they could beat these production costs, but they
hoped they could; i.e., the U.S. companies have no profit
goals in Africa. End Summary.

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SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
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2.(SBU) Recent public criticism by Vatican and other
Catholic officials of excessive profit taking and
"genocide" by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry led the
Ambassador to arrange a face-to-face meeting between senior
representatives of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and
three Holy See departments. The meeting also offered the
opportunity for Post to focus the Vatican on the
President's Emergency Action Plan for HIV/AIDS. The April
2 meeting brought together Cardinal Alfonso Lopez-Trujillo
of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Javier
Lozano-Barragan of the Council for Health Care Issues, and
Archbishop Paul Cordes, President of the Pontifical Council
"Cor Unum," the Vatican's development agency. Several
staff also attended from each of the departments, all of
which deal with HIV/AIDS in some way as part of the
Catholic Church's extensive efforts to deal with the global
impact of the disease. U.S. pharmaceutical reps included
Dick Thompson, Mark Speaker and Lamberto Andreotti from
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS),and Brian Healy and Susan
Crowley from Merck and Co., all top executives in the
industry.

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President's Emergency Plan
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3.(SBU) The Ambassador began the session by emphasizing
the scope of the President's $15 billion Emergency Plan for
HIV/AIDS Relief. He noted that in just over two months
since Congress appropriated funds for the initiative, the
Emergency Plan had delivered more than $350 million to
implementing partners who are fighting HIV/AIDS. He also
pointed out to the Holy See officials that U.S.
contributions to HIV/AIDS relief in 2004 would be
approximately twice those of all other donor governments
combined.

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USG Committed to Safe, Effective, Affordable Drugs
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4. (SBU) On the question of generics, the Embassy and
industry representatives sought to counter the recent
misleading reports in the Catholic and secular press that
the U.S. was seeking to block the production of affordable
generic medicines to protect its drug industry. The
Ambassador said the USG was committed to providing
pharmaceuticals that are safe, effective, and affordable to
those in need of them. We noted that the USG had moved
ahead at the March Gabarone meeting to develop principles
for evaluating the quality, safety, and efficacy of generic
fixed-dose-combination drugs.

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U.S. Companies Focused on Help for Africa
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5. (SBU) The pharmaceutical industry representatives
stressed that they were already offering anti-retroviral
drugs to sub-Saharan African nations at no profit, meeting
only the cost of production. With the substantial costs
associated with developing new medicines, this was no small
gesture, they noted. The reps insisted, contrary to Holy
See assertions, that U.S. companies were not seeking profit
in Africa; in fact, they said, it would be easier for them
to ignore the developing world altogether and focus on the
West where there was a normal profit margin. Instead, by
offering drugs at the cost of production and with the
introduction of several charitable programs, the companies
had made Africa a priority.

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Prices and Generics
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6. (SBU) The Merck and BMS representatives further
explained that they were not seeking to protect what few
patents existed in the least developed nations. If
producers of generic medicine wanted to manufacture
HIV/AIDS medicines under patent by these companies for sub-
Saharan Africa, the U.S. reps said they would not stand in
the way. But, they said, even the generic companies have
yet to prove that they can produce these drugs below the
production cost of around a dollar per day per person a
cost that does not account for the substantial costs the
U.S. companies invest in developing new drugs. Cardinal
Barragan noted that even the cost of $365 per year for
these drugs was unaffordable for most sufferers in the
least developed countries. Merck's Healy agreed and said
that was why the Global Fund and the President's Emergency
Action Plan played such a crucial role in purchasing and
delivering the medicines to those who need them.

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COMMENT
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7. (SBU) Comments from Vatican officials often make
headlines worldwide and can affect public perceptions in
many countries. The Catholic Church and affiliated
agencies provide care for 27 percent of HIV/AIDS sufferers
worldwide, so comments from the Holy See on the subject
carry significant weight. Given this involvement, Embassy
believed it essential to set the record straight on U.S.
efforts - public and private - to meet this humanitarian
challenge. Of course, conspiracy theories and suspicions
of profit motives die hard; for this reason the Ambassador
is sending a follow-up letter to Vatican participants
reemphasizing the key points conveyed (text to be faxed to
EUR/WE). The industry reps and Holy See officials
s
discussed possible follow-on collaboration in the
distribution of medicines, perhaps using the infrastructure
available in some African countries through churches and
bishops' conferences. Though not all of the naysayers will
ever be convinced of the U.S.'s efficacy and altruism, the
ongoing dialogue arising from this meeting should
contribute to a more balanced understanding of the issue
and a greater appreciation for U.S. leadership in
addressing the HIV/AIDS challenge.

NICHOLSON


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2004VATICA01389 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED