[Viva] Fwd: FW: your holiday greetings

Wed Feb 23 10:56:48 PST 2011

Way to go Denise! You are an inspiration!
And a courageous +woman....
thank you for being outspoken,
 ox

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 9:46 AM, Denise Becker <dbecker106 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> ---------- 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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