Publication Topic : Access to Medicines

Election 2015: Keeping HIV and Human Rights on the Agenda

On October 19, 2015, Canada’s voters have an opportunity to decide what kind of government they want — one that has regard for evidence and upholds health and human rights for all, or one that perpetuates outmoded and ill-informed policies

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Time for transparency on the TPP

For the last five years, Canada and 11 other countries have been secretly negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), often described as “NAFTA on steroids.” Among many other concerns, health groups have been sounding the alarm that access to affordable medicines for millions of people in the negotiating countries could be one of those things traded … Read more

Letter to TPP Ministers and Heads of Delegation re: transparency

“Ever since talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) began over five years ago, there have been broad public calls on leaders to make negotiations more transparent and open to the public. In statements, in letters, and in face-to-face meetings with trade representatives, we have urged the adoption of concrete practices that would better enable the kind of open … Read more

Letter to Kirsten Hillman, Chief Negotiator, Trans‐Pacific Partnership re: Request for access and transparency in the TPP negotiating round in Ottawa

“It is our understanding that Canada will host the next negotiating round of the Trans‐Pacific Partnership, including Chief Negotiators meetings, in Ottawa in early July…. [I]t is critical that Canada ensures and facilitates opportunities for civil society stakeholder engagement with negotiators during the Ottawa round of negotiations….”

Open letter from civil society to Executive Director of the Global Fund: Abandon the “blue-ribbon Task Force to develop a global framework on tiered-pricing”

“We, the undersigned organizations and activists from the global South and North, are writing to urge the Global Fund to abandon its attempt to launch a “blue-ribbon Task Force” that will focus primarily on developing a global multi-tiered pricing framework for middle-income countries (MICs), which we believe would permanently undermine access to more affordable medicines, … Read more

Joint letter to UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé re: Russia and the Fourth Conference on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“On behalf of advocates for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), we write to express our concerns about the Fourth Conference on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECAAC) which is being organized with great influence from its host, the government of the Russian … Read more

Letter to UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé re: convening High-Level Meeting to assess progress towards Universal Access

“[W]e would like … to ask UNAIDS to call on the United Nations General Assembly to convene a High Level Meeting before September 2015 to assess progress toward the achievement of the goals in the 2011 Political Declaration and to renew the commitments to achieve Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in … Read more

Open letter to Prime Minister from NGOs: Canada must stand fast in Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations to defend access to affordable medicines

“We are Canadian civil society organizations committed to the basic principle that access to medicines and to health care should be equitable, based on need and not on ability to pay, whether at home or around the world. Medicines should not be a luxury. We call on the Government of Canada to reject any proposals … Read more