OTTAWA, May 20, 2003 - Knowing that the prevention strategies and treatments to save lives exist, a number of prominent Canadian organizations are hosting a civil society summit in Ottawa to seek solutions and map out strategies to improve health for all, around the world. They will tackle trade policies that restrict access to medicines, the failure of wealthy countries to adequately fund global health efforts, and discuss the role of the private sector in responding to global health crises.

"Global Health is a Human Right!" is a Canadian civil society summit to address health policies as they relate to globalization, development, and poverty. It will take place at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel (100 Kent Street, Ottawa), on Wednesday, May 21 (9 a.m. through 9 p.m.) and Thursday, May 22 (9 a.m. through 1 p.m.).

"All over the world, unions are taking on health issues because they are central not only to workers' quality of life individually, but also to the kind of communities we want to build and pass on to the next generation," said Barb Byers, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. "From the workplace-centred activities on HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa to the struggle here in Canada to preserve and expand public medicare, the issues working families face and the obstacles in front of them are the same: deregulation, privatization or tax-cuts that favour big corporations and rich people."

"Canada needs to keep its promise to address diseases of poverty. Ten dollars a year per Canadian is a small price to pay to help the 19,000 people dying every day of AIDS, TB and malaria," said Michael O'Connor, Executive Director of the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development.

Regarding trade, Richard Elliott, a lawyer with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, explains: "The World Trade Organization has failed to live up to its promise, made 18 months ago in Doha, that it would solve patent-related restrictions on access to medicines in developing countries. Canada has played the role of supporting actor to the US and EU, who seek to limit any 'solution' with restrictions that do not apply to rich countries. This double standard is shameful and unacceptable. Canada should stop cheerleading for the US government and the brand-name pharmaceutical industry, already the wealthiest in the world. Instead, Canada should publicly and unequivocally support workable, simple proposals that have been put forward by humanitarian organizations, human rights advocates and developing countries, and which have been supported by the World Health Organization."

"The question of access to essential medicines clearly exposes the moral bankruptcy of international trade agreements", says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "The TRIPS agreement was written by and for corporations in order to protect their unconscionable profits. The result has been devastation and death in the poorest countries of the world. Governments, including Canada, that choose property rights over human rights must be called to account by their citizens."

"Patients aren't dying of HIV/AIDS and other neglected diseases per se: they are dying of market and public policy failure," says Dr. James Orbinski of Doctors Without Borders.

The Summit will be attended by a wide range of Canadian organizations, and will address global health under these key areas:

• The Impact of Trade and Globalization on Commitments to Achieve "Health for All"
• Financing Global Health: Canada's ODA, the Global Fund and Debt Cancellation
• Corporate Social Responsibility in Supporting Public Health in Developing Countries

Health policies must protect public health globally and to achieve health as a fundamental human right for all. This includes an increase in access to essential medicines to fight preventable and communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and addressing health in the contexts of development and poverty.

The Summit will also host important international speakers, including Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Head of Resource Mobilization/Global Partnerships at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, as well as activists from South Africa, Niger, Brazil and Argentina. The keynote addresses on the evening of the 21st will be by Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians, and Dr. James Orbinski, University of Toronto and MSF/Doctors Without Borders. Both will address the theme of globalization and health.

The "Global Health is a Human Right!" Summit is organized by the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Medecins sans Frontieres, the Council of Canadians, Rights & Democracy, the Interagency Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Development, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and the United Steelworkers.

-30-