TAKE PART IN THE GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION - THURSDAY OCT 17 - CALLING ON
COKE TO PROVIDE AIDS TREATMENT TO WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
==> You can help save lives in Africa. Hit REPLY and SEND now to
send a message to Coca-Cola CEO Robert Daft urging him to do the
right thing - expand AIDS treatment programs to cover all workers
and their dependents in Africa who need it, WHICH THE COMPANY CAN
EASILY AFFORD TO DO! Last year Coke had $261 million in profit from
its operations in Africa and $620 million in net revenue. Urge
Coke to be a full leader on this issue and set an example to other
major employers in Africa and other impoverished regions.
==> Take just 60 seconds out of your day to call Coke to demand
action to save lives. It's easy -- just say, "I want Coke to
include ALL African workers and their families in a decent plan to
save lives." CALL TOLL-FREE IN THE US, 800-438-2653
YOU ARE NOT ACTING ALONE!! ==> The Global Day of Protest includes
anti-Coke demonstrations in cities across the United States,
including San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Philadelphia,
and Pittsburgh, as well as at least 12 college campuses. Across the
country, from George Washington University to the University of
Washington, students will be urging their presidents to kick Coke
off their campuses. Events will also take place in cities in
Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, Thailand, France, and Japan.
==> participate in an exciting and creative rally near you, to raise
awareness and put more pressure on Coke - see list plus more ideas
and info at
http://www.treat-your-workers.org
Background:
AIDS activists have pressured Coca-Cola for months for failing to
fulfill promises made in June 2001 when the company announced
its "AIDS in Africa" initiative, which was to include treatment for
workers.
(Activists call for access for affordable AIDS medications because
the medications taken for granted in wealthy countries are too
expensive for the vast majority of people in Africa who need them.
Treatment is needed to save lives, preserve families, and make
prevention programs fully effective.)
Then, last month, the global activist campaign brought about an
announcement from the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation of an initiative
to enroll African bottlers in a cost-sharing program to provide
HIV/AIDS care benefits to workers.
However, there are shortcomings in the offer. Coca-Cola recently
announced that it would share the costs of HIV/AIDS treatment with
only eight of its 40 bottlers. The company will require that
workers contribute a 10% co-payment for drugs and will exclude
coverage for dependents of workers.
"Even the latest plan leaves workers at Coke's 32 other bottling
plants, HIV-positive children of workers in all plants, and workers
at any of the plants who can't afford the 10% co-payments with no
treatment all all," notes Jamie Fratamico, an SMC student involved
with the protests. The Coke framework will only suit the largest
bottlers leaving the majority of workers in the hardest hit regions
and the smaller bottlers behind. "The prospect of parents taking
life-saving medicines while their HIV-infected children die is
inexplicable and indefensible," said Brook Baker of Health GAP.
AIDS and labor activists scored major victories last August, when
mining giants Anglo American, Anglo Gold and De Beers agreed to
provide AIDS treatment, including life-prolonging antiretroviral
drugs, to their workers in Africa.
The International Labor Organization estimates that 20 million
people living with AIDS are workers, or half the current estimated
population of HIV positive people world wide. Africa is home to
over 25 million people living with AIDS, according to the World
Health Organization.
News updates:
US Intelligence Forecasts AIDS Explosion:
In an alarming new report, the National Intelligence Council
predicts that by 2010 there will be over 50 million people living
with AIDS in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia and Nigeria. Of the five
countries, the report states Nigeria and Ethiopia "will be the worst
hit." The report says Nigeria's AIDS epidemic will explode, reaching
10 to 15 million cases, with 18 to 26 per cent of adults infected.
This new intelligence also predicts the AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia
will expand up to 27 per cent of the population by 2010.
"American policy makers should be deeply alarmed by this
intelligence estimate," stated Dr. Paul Zeitz, Director of the
Global AIDS Alliance. "But will this threat to global stability,
like other warnings, go largely unheeded?"
"The international community, especially the United States, has yet
to put its money where its mouth is in the battle against HIV/AIDS,"
according to Dr. Jim Kim of Partners in Health, which is based in
Boston. "The United States takes pride in being the largest donor to
global AIDS programs, but this distinction means about as much as
getting a D minus in a class full of failing students."
Health experts have estimated a fair annual contribution from the US
to the global response to AIDS as at least $2.5 billion. The US is
spending only about $1 billion to fight Global AIDS. Meanwhile, the
Congressional Budget Office estimate indicates the monthly cost of
the proposed war in Iraq will be $9 billion per month, about four
times what the US should be spending each year to fight AIDS.
Debt Relief News:
At last month's Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF in
Washington DC, the IMF's International Monetary and Finance
Committee (IMFC) agreed to continue work on an international
bankruptcy plan - or what it calls a 'Sovereign Debt Restructuring
Mechanism' (SDRM). The proposal has the tentative endorsement of
the Bush Administration.
Debt relief advocates have long been asking for an insolvency
framework for poor countries, in order to free up funds to fight
AIDS, poverty and other crises. But, the IMF's plan looks quite
different than what advocates have proposed and hoped for. Advocates
are disappointed with this proposal as it would exclude multilateral
debt, in particular their own debt and that of the their sister
organization, the World Bank It may also, according to recent
formulations, exclude the debt of official bilateral creditors such
as the UK and US. The IMF's plan would not provide for any
independent arbitration, except under a Dispute Resolution Forum
(DRF) with relatively limited powers. It is clear that the IMF would
effectively retain a veto over the DRF's decisions.
Advocates for a fair debt arbitration process noted that a just plan
would have ensured an independent process in which citizens would
have a right to be heard in the negotiations, and which would force
all creditors to take their share of the responsibility for
financial crises, and give a fresh start, on a dignified basis, to
debtor countries.
Thanks to Azeb Fremichael, GAA Intern, for assistance with news
updates.
