eoe-0705-018 mike's comment about 6/27 goldberg article & my response

(LOS ANGELES, POSTED JULY 1, 2005)

comment posted on bill in exile blog by mike

posted june 29, 2005 03:52pm

mike said...

the only way brazil's actions make sense is if you assume big pharma are a bunch of evil, money-grubbing whores. brazil's actions are thus an attempt to strip some of the supra-normal profits out of the price of hiv medication. but even if big pharma are evil, money-grubbing whores, there can be no long-term gain to brazil's actions.

what rational, evil money-grubbing whore would continue to invest staggering sums of money in a project for which there is no chance of profit? and if the evil, money-grubbing whores aren't going to do the research, then who will?

brazil's actions might be seen as altruistic. but until someone can create a more efficient model of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the afflicted and healing the sick than the one we've got, brazil must not proceed.

5:05 PM  

mike—

thanks for your response. this is probably going to be a long response to your response.

you say:

brazil's actions might be seen as altruistic. but until someone can create a more efficient model of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the afflicted and healing the sick than the one we've got, brazil must not proceed.

actually, brazil’s hiv program is a more efficient model of feeding the hungry, etc. this is a may 3 report posted on “medical news today,” (www.medicalnewstoday.com):

acccording to some hiv/aids advocates, brazil has been a “model” for combating hiv/aids with its “accepting, open” policies toward commercial sex workers, injection drug users, men who have sex with men and other “high-risk” groups, the [5/2/05 wall street] journal reports. [brazil refused more than $40 million in aids grants in april because of a bush administration requirement that hiv/aids organizations must pledge to oppose commercial sex work. in addition, the bush administration has threatened to refuse to fund hiv/aids groups that do not accept bush’s social agenda on issues such as sexual abstinence and drug use.] brazilian authorities said that the bush administration requirement that groups receiving funding must condemn commercial sex work would hinder the country’s efforts to fight the disease, according to the journal. “we can’t control the disease with principles that are manichean, theological, fundamentalist and shiite,” pedro chequer, director of brazil’s aids program and chair of the national commission that decided to refuse the grants, said, adding that the commission—which includes cabinet ministers, scientists and aids advocates—viewed the bush administration policy as “interference that harms the brazilian policy regarding diversity, ethical principles and human rights.”

brazilian strategy

brazil’s national aids program, which is considered to be one of the most progressive in the world, includes hiv prevention, care and treatment services. the program manufactures and distributes generic versions of antiretroviral drugs, provising them at no cost to all hiv-positive people in the country (kaiser daily hiv/aids report, 3/16). although brazil’s hiv prevention strategy emphasizes abstinence and sexual fidelity, it focuses more on condom education and distribution, according to the journal. commercial sex work is not a crime in brazil, and advocates for commercial sex workers have been “among the most active” in the country’s fight against hiv/aids, according to the journal.

so there is another way brazil’s actions can be understood.

money-grubbing whores (mghos) are the cultural heroes of capitalism. i don’t know that it’s fair to call them evil, but certainly their actions have an evil effect. we’re not talking about extracting supra-normal profits out of the price of hiv medication. mghos take their supra-normal profits out of the aids death toll.

remember too that medicins sans frontiers (doctors without borders) “criticized the brazillian government on may 10 for ‘failing to keep its pledge’ to break antiretroviral drug patents to produce generic versions of the patents, the ap/yahoo news reports.” in march, brazil had treatened to break the four patents involved by april 4 if the drug manufacturers did not agree to allow the country to produce generic equivalents or buy them at tiscount prices. brazil was still trying to negotiate the issue on may 10.

you ask what mgho would invest “in a project for which there is no chance of profit?” can there be any other motive that might be more appropriate in the face of human suffering than turning another buck?

you ask if the mghos "aren't going to do the research, then who will?” i would think that there’s clear evidence that the mghos aren’t putting forth their best efforts in the face of the pandemic. and if you want a good look at whoring, re-read shilts’ and the band played on. gallo in particular.

we need everybody’s best efforts.

there’s more to say, but it's been several long days in a row for me and i have to sleep tonight. i would be interested, though, in hearing what more you might have to say.

namasté

richard kearns

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