Statement by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the President’s HIV/AIDS in Africa Executive Order
May 10, 2000

“I am pleased that President Clinton has issued an Executive Order on this important issue. The Executive Order directs the U.S. Government to refrain from seeking, through negotiation or otherwise, the revocation or revision of any law or policy imposed by a beneficiary sub-Saharan government that promotes access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals and medical technologies.

The Executive Order also directs other steps be taken to address the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. It will give sub-Saharan governments the flexibility to bring life saving drugs and medical technologies to affected populations while also ensuring that fundamental intellectual property rights are protected.

Approximately 34 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have been infected with the disease since the worldwide onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Eleven and a half million of those infected have died, with the fatalities in Sub-Saharan Africa representing 83 percent of the world's total HIV/AIDS-related deaths.

Unfortunately, the African Growth and Opportunity Act Conference Report dropped an Amendment that I had introduced to assure that the countries of sub-Saharan Africa would have access to the manufacture and sale or import of cheap, generic AIDS drugs, practices known as "compulsory licensing" and "parallel importing.” These practices are fully consistent with World Trade Organization rules, which allow countries flexibility in addressing public health concerns.

Without this legislation, the African Growth and Opportunity Act Conference Report threatened, inadvertently, to roll back the clock in our efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Thanks to the President's decision to issue an Executive Order addressing the concerns raised by my Amendment, the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa will be able to take steps to determine the availability of HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals in their countries, and provide their people with affordable HIV/AIDS drugs.

It is clearly in the interest of the United States to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and I believe that the President's Executive Order strikes a proper balance between the need to enable sub-Saharan governments to increase access to HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals and the need to ensure that intellectual property is protected, and marks a necessary addition to our efforts to continue to assist the countries of the region to bring this deadly disease under control.”

Click here to view the President's letter to Senator Feinstein
Click here to view the Executive Order