[Viva] Fwd: FW: your holiday greetings

[Denise Becker]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Denise Becker <dbecker106 at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: FW: your holiday greetings
To: CannaR1A at parl.gc.ca


Dear Mr. Cannan:

Thank you for your reply.

As you know by now, I have HIV, I have studied this issue and I know about
CAMR.  I honestly and truly hope you are not trying to pull the wool over my
eyes because I think that would be akin to adding salt into my wounds.

Yes, I am well aware that CAMR has been used once, to one country, Rwanda.
 Therefore, to bring this one case to my attention and say that CAMR is
working, insults my intelligence.  Happily, HIV has not yet reached that
part of my brain.  You and I both know, in our hearts, that CAMR is NOT
working.  If you think it is then you would have a different opinion to
Medicines Sans Frontiers and Oxfam to name just two, and I have to say I
will go with MSF on this one as I think they have a *little *more experience
in the field.

Why are you hanging on to CAMR?  The only way I think I can make you
understand this is to think of the BP oil spill.  They realized when they
tried certain ways of capping the well that they were not working and
finally they decided to use a solution that they probably should have used
in the first place.  In the meantime, oil was gushing out and we all know
that story.  But we are not talking about BP... we are talking about babies,
children, mothers, people dying while you try to make this work.

Honestly?  Seriously?  Are you really OK with this?

Somewhere, right now, there is a small eight year old child watching his/her
mother die, realising that he or she will soon be head of the family.  This
is not a movie, it is reality.

I shouldn't have to do this, knowing your background, but I am appealing to
you to do the right thing and vote to pass Bill C-393 with its one license
solution.  You are just making me shake my head in disbelief.

Denise Becker



On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 3:36 PM, <CannaR1A at parl.gc.ca> wrote:

>  Dear Ms. Becker,
>
>
>
> Thank you for sharing your views concerning the access to affordable
> medicines in developing countries to treat HIV/AIDS.  I regret the delay in
> replying to you.
>
>
>
> The Government of Canada recognizes the devastating impact of infectious
> diseases in the developing world and is engaged in a long-term comprehensive
> approach to fighting serious public health problems that affect many
> developing and least developed countries.  One part of this approach is Canada’s
> Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), which implements an August 30, 2003
> decision of the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowing countries with
> pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity to export lower priced, generic
> versions of patented pharmaceutical products, including HIV/AIDS drugs, to
> countries unable to manufacture their own, under certain conditions.  CAMR
> amended the *Patent Act* to permit the Commissioner of Patents to grant an
> export-only compulsory licence to a Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturer
> wishing to supply a developing or least developed country with a generic
> version of a patented drug.  It also amended the *Food and Drugs Act* so
> that products exported under licence meet the same safety, efficacy and
> quality standards as those approved for sale in Canada, and are
> distinguishable in appearance and packaging.
>
>
>
> In December 2007, the government tabled its report on the statutory review
> of CAMR in Parliament, concluding that not enough time had passed since the
> regime came into force and not enough evidence had accumulated to warrant
> making changes to CAMR.  A copy of the report is available online at
> http://www.camr-rcam.gc.ca/review-reviser/camr_rcam_report_rapport-eng.php.
> More recently, in June 2009, Canada accepted the Protocol Amending the
> Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
> to transform the August 30, 2003 decision into a permanent amendment.
>
>
>
> CAMR is one of ten regimes in existence to have implemented the August 30,
> 2003 WTO decision and is the only one to have successfully authorized an
> export of needed drugs to a least developed country.  On September 24, 2008,
> the first shipment of approximately seven million tablets of a low cost
> triple-combination HIV/AIDS therapy licensed under CAMR was sent to Rwanda
> by a Canadian generic company, Apotex Inc.  A year later, on September 19,
> 2009, Apotex sent a second shipment to Rwanda under the regime, completing
> the country’s order for a specified quantity of the HIV/AIDS drug.
>
>
>
> CAMR is only one part of the Government of Canada’s broader response to
> addressing public health problems in the developing world.  As an example,
> Canada has made significant investments to fight infectious diseases
> globally, including contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
> Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and the
> Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for pneumococcal vaccines.  In addition, in
> November 2007, the government launched the Catalytic Initiative to Save a
> Million Lives, contributing $105 million over five years to support
> country-led efforts to train and equip front-line health workers to deliver
> antibiotics for infections, malaria bed nets, immunization, and other key
> health services to children and vulnerable groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.
> These investments form part of the government’s commitment to improve
> people’s health in the world’s poorest countries, and build on Canada’s new
> aid effectiveness agenda.
>
>
>
> Budget 2008 delivered on the Government’s commitment to double
> international assistance by 2010-2011 from 2001-2002 levels by ensuring that
> the funding is in place to bring Canada’s total international assistance to
> $5 billion by 2010-2011.  It also stated that the government committed to
> provide $450 million over three years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
> Tuberculosis and Malaria, bringing Canada’s total commitments to $978
> million since the Fund’s inception.  In addition, Canada recently met its G8
> commitment to double aid to Africa in 2008-2009 from its 2003-2004 levels.
>
>
>
> On the issue of Private Member’s Bill C-393, the federal government is
> opposed to the bill because it would significantly alter CAMR’s framework
> and eliminate some of the safeguards in the system that are designed to
> ensure that safe, low cost medicines are exported under the regime to
> countries that need them in a way that respects our international
> obligations.  As you may know, Bill C-393 was referred to the House of
> Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for review on
> December 2, 2009.
>
>
>
> My understanding is that the changes proposed in C-393 will do nothing to
> address the real issue of access to medicines in the developing world.
> Instead, C-393 would revoke intellectual property rights, remove important
> steps in ensuring the safety and efficacy of the drugs being exported, and
> eliminate the ability to monitor whether the drugs actually get to the
> people that need them most.
>
>
>
> I spoke with my colleague, the Honourable Bev Oda, Minister of the Canadian
> International Development Agency, about this issue.   She said she had met
> with national brand name and generic pharmaceutical companies and has been
> assured that medicine is being sent to folks in the developing world for
> humanitarian purposes.
>
>
>
> Please be assured that the Government of Canada remains committed to
> improving access to treatment and prevention of public health problems in
> the developing world, and will continue to seek new and innovative ways to
> contribute to the global effort to improve public health conditions in
> developing countries.
>
>
>
> I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and opinions with
> me.  Please feel free to contact me at any time on matters concerning the
> federal government.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
>
>
> *Ron Cannan, MP*
> Kelowna - Lake Country
> (250) 470-5075 (Constituency Office in Capri Mall)
> (613) 992-7006 (Parliament Hill Office)
> "Your Kelowna - Lake Country Voice in Ottawa"
> www.cannan.ca
>
>
>
> P Before printing, think about the Environment/Avant l' impression, il
> faut penser à l'Environnement
>
>
>
> *From:* Denise Becker [mailto:dbecker106 at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* January-21-11 2:12 PM
> *To:* ron at cannan.ca
> *Subject:* your holiday greetings
>
>
>
> Hon. Ron Cannan, MP
>
>
>
> Dear Mr. Cannan:
>
>
>
> I would like to thank you for your Season's Greetings this year, showing a
> lovely photo of your family.  In turn I thought I would send you a photo of
> mine.  This was my daughter in 1994 with me.  It was taken just three months
> before she died of AIDS.  I had unknowingly infected her at birth and found
> out that she and I had HIV just six months later.  At that time, there were
> no medications except AZT to treat people.  As Canadians we are able to have
> a proper standard of health care today so that babies are seldom born with
> AIDS and their parents are able to live much longer.  This, I am sure you
> will agree, is a basic human right if the meds are available.
>
>
>
> I KNOW that you are all to familiar with the devastation of losing loved
> ones to AIDS, since you informed the House of Commons on a previous World
> AIDS Day that your parents had died of AIDS.  I was incredibly sorry to hear
> this and send you my profound sympathies for what must have been a terrible
> loss and you must have felt terrible that there were no medications
> available to save them.  I am sure they would have fared better under
> today's medication.
>
>
>
> I am sending you one more photo.  This is a family in Africa right now - a
> little different than our photos because there are no parents in the photo
> and the little boy is holding his younger sibling.  They are waiting for
> medication to keep them alive.
>
>
>
> On January 31, I am pretty sure you will be voting *against *putting
> through Bill C-393 which will allow low cost medication to go to Africa.  As
> a constituent and as someone who has lost a family member to AIDS, just like
> you, I feel that it is time after repeated e-mails for you to tell me why
> you would vote against such a measure.  I am at a total loss to understand
> your thinking and just feel extremely sad when I think of you voting against
> the Bill going through.
>
>
>
> I would be happy to discuss these images with you at your convenience and I
> hope you keep them in mind when you cast your ballot as you return to the
> House.
>
>
>
> A happy New Year to you too.
>
>
>
> Denise Becker
>
>
>
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