AHF to Stage “Occupy Gilead” Protest Over Gilead’s AIDS Drug Prices

AIDS Advocates to Protest Over Gilead’s Pricing of AIDS Drug, Atripla, for Nation’s Hard-Hit AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP); More Than 6,500 Americans Are on ADAP Waitlists in 12 States

Participants Will “Occupy Gilead” by Staging a Mock Funeral Outside Gilead Headquarters; They Will Wear Skeleton Masks, Dress in All-Black, & Carry a Coffin in Memory of Those Who Have Died While on ADAP Waitlists

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Scores of AIDS advocates will participate in an “Occupy Gilead” protest hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), tomorrow, Wednesday, November 30that 8:30 AMoutside the Foster City headquarters of Gilead Sciences Inc. to protest the company’s pricing of its HIV/AIDS medications. In addition, protestors will stage a mock funeral in memory of those who have died of AIDS while on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waitlists. Protestors will dress in funeral-black and carry banners and signs with the message: “Gilead, do the right thing!” as well as a 4 ft. X 2 ½ ft. coffin while wearing skeleton masks.

In the spirit of the “Occupy” movement, protestors hope to call attention to the severe AIDS drug crisis facing the nation’s ADAPs—a network of federal and state funded programs that provide life-saving HIV treatments to low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS nationwide—as well as to the fact that Gilead Sciences’ executives are a part of the “1 percent.” The advocates’ goal is to raise public awareness and educate community members—including Gilead employees—regarding the steep prices that government programs are paying for Gilead’s blockbuster HIV/AIDS drug, Atripla (efavirenz & tenofovir & emtricitabine)—currently $10,000 per patient, per year for ADAP.

WHAT:				“Occupy Gilead” Funeral Procession & Protest of Gilead’s AIDS Drug Prices
				8:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time
WHEN:				WEDNESDAY, November 30th, 2011 at 8:30 AM
WHERE:				At the corner of Lakeside and East 3rd in Foster City
				Near Gilead Sciences Inc. Headquarters (333 Lakeside Drive, Foster City, CA 94404)
CONTACTS:				Eileen Garcia, Community Outreach Manager, (213) 405-5838 cell
				Christina McEwen, Communications & Mktg Coordinator, (714) 457-6185 cell, (323) 308-1832 office

The “Occupy Gilead” funeral procession and protest is an echo of four similar “die-in” protests and a “pill-bottle” protest, which took place recently outside the Foster City Gilead Sciences Inc.’s headquarters. In addition, AIDS Healthcare Foundation previously released a 30-second television commercial: “Gilead: AIDS Drug Prices to Die For.” The ad, which ran on MSNBC and CNN in San Francisco, Foster City and surrounding areas, urged the company to lower prices immediately and directed viewers to send an e-letter to Gilead CEO John Martin by visiting www.2gilead.org.

As of November 17^th, there are 6,595 people on waiting lists in twelve states, according to ADAP Watch, published regularly by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). The total number of people on that have either been dropped from the program, been placed on a waiting list or are unable to enroll due to lowered eligibility is at least 7,415. The breakdown is as follows:

• 6,595 on waiting lists (as reported by NASTAD)
• 445 people dropped (also reported by NASTAD)
• 281 people unable to enroll because of lowered eligibility (This figure is likely higher because AHF’s estimate is based on enrollment figures from FY2009, the most recent full-year data available.)

Background on ADAP

With state budgets stretched thin and increasing numbers of unemployed workers without health insurance, many states have been forced to cap enrollment in their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. Currently, there are more than 6,500 individuals on waiting lists to receive lifesaving AIDS medications in twelve states. Hundreds of patients in need are being added to the waiting list each week. In addition, thousands more Americans living with HIV/AIDS have been dropped from the program or made ineligible to receive medications through ADAP due to stricter eligibility requirements.

Nationwide, ADAPs serve over 165,000 people, accounting for one third of people on AIDS treatment in the U.S. Unfortunately, the need for these programs expands every year, as more and more people become infected and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; each year thousands of newly diagnosed HIV patients turn to ADAPs because they cannot afford their medicines.

“The nation’s network of AIDS Drug Assistance Programs face desperate circumstances due to the high prices of drugs like Gilead’s Atripla. AHF is willing to work in partnership with Gilead toward solutions for ADAP and to create and foster dialogue with the community. However, as long as companies like Gilead continue to pursue pricing policies that conflict with the greater good, as well as the health and well-being of the public, we will not stop asking for change,” said Dale Gluth, AHF’s Associate Regional Director, Bay Area.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to more than 123,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Christina McEwen
Communications & Mktg Coordinator
(323) 308-1832, (714) 457-6185
Christina.McEwen@aidshealth.org
or
Eileen Garcia
Community Outreach Manager
(213) 405-5838
Eileen.Garcia@aidshealth.org
or
Dale R. Gluth
Associate Regional Director, Bay Area
(415) 218-9587
dale.gluth@aidshealth.org

Source: AIDS Healthcare Foundation