July 25th: Int’l AIDS Conference Press Conference & Satellite: ‘Life or Death for Millions: The AIDS Financial Crisis’

In Global, News by AHF

 

Press Conference, Wednesday, July 25th—5:00pm, International AIDS Conference Media Center PCR #3

Satellite Session to include VT Senator Bernie Sanders discussing his Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act, which would eliminate legal barriers to making and selling generics, and talk about the new RAND Corporation study—‘Negotiation Strategies for Antiretroviral Drug Purchasers in the United States,’ an AHF-commissioned study that offers a roadmap to upping AIDS treatment numbers by exploring “…options the U.S. government as well as other buyers could consider when trying to negotiate ARV prices, including alternatives to the current patent system.”  
WASHINGTON D.C. (July 25, 2012) AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a press conference TODAY, Wednesday, July 25th at 5:00 PM Eastern, at the International AIDS Conference Media Center, PCR #3, in anticipation of a satellite session it is hosting later this evening titled: ‘The AIDS Financial Crisis: Life or Death for Millions,’ which will be a thought-provoking satellite session during the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday July 25, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm in Mini Room 8.  This will be the last in a series of three stimulating talks hosted by AHF and featuring leading experts and innovators in the field of HIV/AIDS.

Global funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention is becoming increasingly scarce. The financial gap between foreign aid and the amount of money needed to treat 34 million HIV positive people is widening. PEPFAR is facing multi-million dollar cuts. As the need for funding grows more donors are calling life-saving aid to poor countries a burdensome “treatment mortgage”. Are we willing to sacrifice all that has been attained over the past 30 years? A diverse panel will tackle this critical issue.

WHAT:          PRESS CONFERENCE—“The AIDS Financial Crisis: Life or Death for Millions”
International AIDS Conference Media Center PCR #3

WHEN:          July 25, 2012     5:00 pm

WHERE:       Walter E. Washington Convention Center
IAC Media Center, PCR #3

WHO:            Moderator: James Driscoll, PhD, Consultant, AIDS Healthcare Foundation

PANEL:        Krista Cox, Staff Attorney, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), will speak on the
bill from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders known as the Medical Innovation Prize
 Fund Act, which would eliminate legal barriers to making and selling generics,
including vaccines, and create a fund equal to .55 percent of the US Gross Domestic
Product, which would be worth an estimated $80 billion annually at current levels.
 Linda Dee, Co-founder of the Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC)
 Michael Weinstein, President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation

NOTE: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and the RAND Corporation’s Sebastian Linnemayr, lead author of the RAND study, will NOT attend the press conference in the IAC Media Center, but will speak on the satellite session panel discussion.
CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, (323) 791-5526
PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE FOLLOWED BY SATELLITE SESSION AT 6:30PM Mini Session Room 8
WHAT:             SATELLITE—“The AIDS Financial Crisis: Life or Death for Millions”
International AIDS Conference Satellite Session

WHEN:             July 25, 2012     6:30 pm to 8:30 pm  

WHERE:         Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Mini Room 8

WHO:        Moderator: Michael Weinstein, President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
•    Senator Bernie Sanders, (Independent, VT)
•    Dr. Jorge Saavedra, Global Ambassador (AHF)
•    Carlos Avila, Dir. of Health Financing at ABT Assoc. (AIDS economist)
•    Sebastian Linnemayr (RAND Corporation)
•    Matthew Kavanagh (HealthGAP)
•    Dr. Cheick Tidiane Tall (AfriCASO)

CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, (323) 791-5526

¥    Negotiation Strategies for Antiretroviral Drug Purchasers in the United States
By: Sebastian Linnemayr, Gery W. Ryan, Veena Karir, Jennie Liu, Kartika Palar
Antiretroviral treatment has transformed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic condition, allowing people with HIV to live longer and healthier lives. However, they face significant barriers to accessing and affording life-saving — but expensive — antiretroviral (ARV) medications. These barriers are particularly severe for low-income patients, and they disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities. High ARV prices create pressure for government insurers to contain costs either by rationing care or by restricting eligibility for public programs. Limited funding, coupled with a growing demand for HIV care and treatment, is likely to make programmatic decisions about who is covered become more difficult over time. Therefore, it is important to identify options for reducing the cost of providing ARVs to allow more people to receive treatment. This study examines a variety of options for negotiating lower ARV procurement costs in U.S. markets. A case-study approach is used to assess options that different stakeholders could use in negotiating ARV price discounts with drug manufacturers given the regulatory and market constraints that exist in the United States.
 http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1273.html

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About AIDS Healthcare Foundation
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 166,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare

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