World AIDS Day bus watches world leaders!
Six months have past since Tony Blair sat down with seven of the world's most powerful people and made a promise to ensure that AIDS treatment would be available for all who need it by 2010. This World AIDS Day People & Planet and members of the Stop AIDS Campaign called on Tony Blair to keep his promise and take the necessary action to make universal access by 2010 a reality.
Front of bus
Back of bus
The World AIDS Day Bus
People & Planet and members of the Stop AIDS Campaign took to the road on World AIDS Day aboard a big red double-decker bus. But this was no ordinary London bus - it was covered inside and out, floor to ceiling with thousands of photos of supporter’s eyes!
Many of these eyes belong to students from across the UK who have been collecting eye photos to show politicians that the world is indeed watching them to keep their promise.
The bus has been on a mammoth journey across London visiting the University of London, Trafalgar Square and Embankment, watching decision makers at every possible corner.
Representatives from developing country embassies and over 70 MPs including the Prime Minister himself and Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn boarded the bus to find themselves being watched by thousands of eyes. They were visibly impressed and overwhelmed by the personal messages people had added alongside their eyes urging world leaders to save lives by taking action to make AIDS treatment available for all.
Blair boards the Bus
Jess Worth, formerly of People & Planet now HIV/AIDS advocate at ActionAid UK, questioned Blair on behalf of the Stop AIDS Campaign about what action he is taking to ensure that the 2010 target is achieved.
Jess said “The Prime Minister seemed genuinely impressed with the bus. All those eyes staring at him had a visible effect on him - he read as many of the messages as he could (put his glasses on specially) and was amazed when I then showed him the website which had another 4000 eyes from all over the world on it!
I got the opportunity to tell him exactly what he needs to do in order to achieve AIDS treatment for all by 2010. I told him how disappointed we’d been at the outcome of the Global Fund conference and challenged him on where the money for the treatment target was going to come from. I told him TRIPS wasn’t working for developing countries and needed to be reformed. He took this very seriously and told Justin Forsyth, his special advisor, to take notes! And finally I told him poor countries were being actively prevented from investing in their health services by the IMF imposing limits on how much they can spend - and that this was ridiculous.
I made sure he knew that the majority of the eyes watching him were students, and as he left he was talking about how impressive it was that so many young people were involved in this campaign. Everyone at the Stop AIDS Campaign is SO grateful to P&Pers for sending in so many eyes. There is no way we would’ve got our 10 minutes with Blair without you; you rock!!!’
Mr Blair was also presented with a letter on behalf of the Student Stop AIDS Campaign that outlines the key areas where young people want to see action taken to make sure that the 2010 target becomes a reality. The letter is a reminder that young people are not going to be silent when it is their generation who is worst effected by the pandemic.
Watching Whitehall
The Stop AIDS Campaign’s cute walking telescope was not left out of World AIDS Day festivities. It accompanied the bus on its journey and marched down Whitehall stopping on the way to watch important landmarks such as 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Making AIDS drugs affordable and accessible
Meanwhile, back in the support office, months of pressurising the UK government to withdraw support for making current unworkable trade mechanisms permanent culminated on World AIDS Day with the presentation of a policy paper to DFID and DTI.
Action to stop the unworkable TRIPS waiver being made permanent began back in October when members of the People & Planet network sent hundreds of emails to Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry asking them to contact Peter Mandelson, the European Trade Commissioner, and withdraw support for the EU’s position on making the waiver permanent. The email asked instead that the EU call for the amendment to be simplified so that it finally achieves its stated aim — to ‘support the WTO Members’ right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.’
People and Planet received a response from the DTI that unfortunately failed to accept how current flexibilities within the TRIPS system are preventing the expansion of generic drug production that is essential to the achievement of universal access to treatment by 2010.
Following on from this action students from Loughborough University met with Gordon Brown at the Trade Justice Mass Lobby in November and took the opportunity to question him on how trade rules are threatening access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. A few weeks later James Lloyd, head of Campaigns at People & Planet caught Alan Johnson off guard when he asked a similar question.
At present we are awaiting a response from senior officials at DTI and DFID to our asks outlined in the TRIPS policy paper and will continue applying pressure on ministers in the run up to the WTO ministerial later this month to take action to make it possible for developing country governments to protect the public health of their populations.
Watch this space!