AHF Steps Up “Shame On Abbott” Advocacy Campaign In Abbott Park, IL
Print Ad—Appearing in this Saturday’s Lake County News-Sun—Focuses on Abbott CEO Miles D. White and His Company’s “Terrible Record on AIDS”
Campaign Highlights Abbott’s Latest Shameful Act: Exploiting NAFTA to Charge Five Times More for Its Key AIDS Drug Kaletra in Mexico Than in Other Middle-Income Countries
October 6, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CA-As part of its ongoing campaign to lower drug prices and improve access to lifesaving AIDS treatments globally, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which operates four free treatment clinics in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Tuxtla Gutierrez and Pachuca) today unveiled a new print advertisement criticizing Abbott Laboratories, Inc. for the steep price it charges for its key AIDS drug Kaletra in Mexico. The ad, headlined “Shame on Abbott,” appeared this past Saturday, October 4th. In a move designed to educate stakeholders in Abbott’s drug pricing policies, the ad will appear in the “Weekend Edition” of Chicago’s Lake County News-Sun—a publication likely to be read by employees and top executives of Abbott, headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois on the outskirts of Chicago.
The advocacy ad blasts Abbott for charging Mexico five times more than other middle-income countries for its key AIDS drug, Kaletra. By exploiting patent protections in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Abbott is able to charge Mexico $5,400 a year for Kaletra, a key second-line treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, while charging $1,000 per year in Brazil—a country with a similar economy to Mexico. In the ad, AHF calls on Abbott to lower the price of Kaletra in Mexico to the price offered in Brazil.
In a scathing indictment of Abbott’s drug-pricing policies, the ad includes a timeline of the company’s recent history of conflicts with national governments and global HIV/AIDS advocacy groups over its refusal to offer affordable pricing for its lifesaving medicines.
“Abbott is once again living up to its terrible record on AIDS by abusing NAFTA’s patent protections to charge five times as much for Kaletra in Mexico as it does in other middle-income countries, a heartless business calculation that effectively makes this drug all but out of reach for nearly all those living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico,” said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President. “Through this ad, AHF hopes to make policy makers and the public-at-large—including Abbott’s employees and Illinois neighbors—aware of the striking inequity in the company’s corporate policies regarding its pricing of Kaletra in Mexico. We call upon Abbott executives to end this price-gouging that put profits ahead of saving lives.”
“Many patients’ lives here in Mexico depend on access to drugs such as Kaletra that are available elsewhere at a much lower cost,” said Patricia Campos, M.D., AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Latin America Bureau Chief, who is based in Mexico. “We strongly urge Abbott to immediately lower the price of Kaletra in Mexico to equal the price offered to Brazil in order to ensure that people in need in Mexico are not priced out of such potential lifesaving AIDS treatments.”
Following is the full text of AHF’s ‘Shame on Abbott’ advertisement:
Shame on Abbott
2003
To increase profits for its new AIDS drug Abbott execs consider replacing an old drug with one that they admitted, “tasted like vomit.” * Instead, Abbott gouges AIDS patients by raising the price of the old drug by 400%.
2006
Abbott is condemned by AIDS groups for failing to make its new drug Aluvia available in developing countries.
2007
After a dispute with Thailand over the high price of AIDS treatment Abbott refuses to make its new medicines available to the people of Thailand.
2007
Abbott sues an AIDS organization over its protest of Abbott’s unfair pricing.
2008
After AIDS drug companies reduce the prices of their medicines in Mexico Abbott remains one of the only major drug companies refusing to offer affordable pricing. Today, Abbott charges Mexico 5 times more for its AIDS drug, Kaletra than it costs in other middle-income countries
Abbott’s Price Gouging in Mexico Puts Profits Ahead of Saving Lives
Abbott abuses NAFTA to force Mexico to pay over $5,400 for its AIDS drug, Kaletra while it charges other middle-income countries such as Brazil $1,000. This represents one of the worst examples to date of Abbott’s terrible record on AIDS. Without affordable pricing for Kaletra in Mexico thousands of lives will be lost.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation calls on Abbott to immediately lower the price of Kaletra in Mexico to equal the price offered to Brazil.
For more information, please visit www.aidshealth.org.
*Inside Abbott’s tactics to protect AIDS drug, Wall Street Journal, January 03, 2007
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In Latin America, AIDS Healthcare Foundation currently provides free anti-retroviral treatment to people in need through its clinics in Mexico (in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Tutxla Gutierriez, State of Chiapas and Pachuco, State of Hidalgo) and in Guatemala (Quetzaltenango).
About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation’s largest non-profit HIV/AIDS organization. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 80,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org
