Walter+Payton+RT+-+Lee+Reed+&+John+Trevino+aff

Walter Payton RT – Affirmative – Generic ARV’s

The Bush Administration has manipulated the patent system and FDA approval process to make sure that PEPFAR only uses expensive brand name drugs.

Lobe, 04 (http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/1130 Bush's AIDS Relief Plan Will Delay Drugs, Reward Big Pharma, Jim Lobe | May 26, 2004 Foreign Policy In Focus, Political Analyst for FPIF).

Bush Administration's pledge to expedite its approval process for low-cost, generic anti-retroviral drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ….used to purchase the lowest-cost version of life-saving drugs, which would enable the treatment of many more people,” Booker said.

Status quo voluntary programs subordinate human lives to profits

Foreman 03- director of the AIDS Programme of the Panos Institute in London- 2003 (Martin, Perspectives in Health Magazine:  The Magazine of the Pan American Health Organization, Volume 8, Number 1, “Don’t let TRIPS trip up access to essential drugs,” http://www.paho.org/english/dd/pin/Number16_last.htm )

The pharmaceutical industry knows that high prices restrict sales…but the reality is that millions of people who need antiretroviral and other patented drugs still do not have access to them.

The US makes use of sanctions and trade leverage to coerce nations into refusing to accept generic ARVs from other countries

Crook, 05 (Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D. candidate 2005 [Jamie, “Balancing Intellectual Property Protection with the Human Right to Health,” Berkeley Journal of International Law, 23 Berkeley J. Int'l L. 524 lexis]

U.S. HIV/AIDS policy tends to prioritize the protection of intellectual property rights… patent-like barriers to generic anti-retroviral medication entering the market, even where no patent law had existed before.

Hence the plan:

The United States federal government should, through the executive branch, increase the amount of generic antiretroviral drugs sent to topical areas through the President's Emergency Plan for Acquired Immuno-Defficiency Syndrome Relief by changing its policies to purchase only the most cost effective drugs that meet the World Health Organization’s prequalification standards.

Advantage One: AIDS 25 million people are inefected with the AIDS virus now Brown, 06 (Lester, Former International Agricultural Analyst for U.S. Department of Agriculture and President of Worldwatch Institute, Earth Policy Institute, Plan B 2.0 – Rescuing A Planet Under Stress And A Civilization In Trouble, Chapter Six, http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB2/PB2ch6_ss3.htm)

Although diseases such as malaria and cholera exact a heavy toll, there is no precedent for the number of lives affected by the HIV epidemic. ..we will have to fight them together, or we will succeed against neither.”

Failure of the US to adopt WHO qualifications undermines the credibility of all other AIDS assistance programs, creating resource inefficiency and mistrust towards all international efforts Lynch, 05 (Sharonann, HIV/AIDS Treatment Literacy Coordinator for MSF’s Lesotho mission, Medicine Procurement of ARVs and Other Essential Medicines in the U.S. Global AIDs Program, PEPFARWatch November http://www.healthgap.org/press_releases/05/1105_PWATCH_HGAP_BP_PROC.pdf

A unilateral system risks undermining the WHO multilateral pre-qualification program …resulting in some countries barring the import or use of drugs approved only by the FDA.

And, Africa is a vital starting point for treatment—The impact is human extinction

The Jakarta Post, March 6, 2000, pg. – l/n

But his vision, unless backed up by the essential nitty-gritty from the United Nations and other countries, is somewhere off in cloud- cuckoo-land. The explosion of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is systematically wiping out Africa's best doctors, lawyers, lecturers, economists and businesspeople. … Africa's time has run out, signaling the beginning of the end of the black race and maybe the human race.

Bush is using PEPFAR as a slush fund for pharmaceutical companies to sell brand name drugs—a switch to WHO standards would save millions of lives and ensure better treatment compliance because generics are available in fixed dose combinations that are easier to administer.

Health GAP, 04 (3/29, Paul Davis, HIV/AIDS policy analyst at Health GAP Jen Cohn (MD) is "currently a third year resident in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania,” “PhRMA's Washington DC HQ Locked Down in Protest of Bush Assault on Generic AIDS Medicines, Activists arrested” http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0329-15.htm)

"Under the cover of an ostensibly humanitarian program, Bush is using his AIDS plan to ensure big pharma's market dominance and destroy the access to generics,"…..bthe White House is attempting to lock developing countries into to using only branded drugs.

And, adopting WHO prequalification standards would allow increase the number of people receiving life saving ARVs by ten fold Ismail, 06 (Asif, 12/31 “PEPFAR Policy Hinders Treatment in Generic Terms,” Center for Public Integrity, http://www.publicintegrity.org/aids/report.aspx?aid=836, Production Editor for Center for Public Integrity)

But like Rep. Waxman, some PEPFAR critics think the initiative's cautious approach toward generic drugs has its roots in big pharmaceutical companies' influence with the Bush administration…..Forcing manufacturers to register in 15 focus nations and dozens of other recipient countries, Baker said, creates another set of bureaucratic hurdles.

Access to ARVs is the prerequisite to any prevention efforts Crook, 05 (Jamie, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D. Candidate 2006. 23 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 524 p.L/N)

A daily cocktail of anti-retroviral medication has transformed HIV/AIDS into a "treatable and chronic" condition …..increased access to treatment is one of the most powerful incentives for individuals to learn their HIV status," which in turn assists prevention measures.

Advantage Two: Soft Power U.S. leadership is rapidly declining now. Only a renewed commitment to soft power can reverse growing anti-Americanism and restore legitimacy. Meyer, 07 (Marius, “An Exploration of the Role of Soft Power in Hegemony: the USA and China”, Stellenbosch University, March 2007, Google) The decline of US hegemony (soft power) could also be attributed to……., indicate a decline in ‘soft power’ for the US-yet the damage is not irreparable.

HARD POWER WILL INEVITABLY FAIL WITHOUT SOFT POWER Reiffel, 5 (Lex, Visiting Fellow at the Global Economy and Development Center of the Brookings Institution, The Brookings Institution, Reaching Out: Americans Serving Overseas, 12-27-2005, www.brookings.edu/views/papers /20051207rieffel.pdf)

Internal pressure to turn America's back on the rest of the world is likely to intensify……defined as all instruments involving any kind of armed military or police force.

Prioritizing profits over human lives is an obstacle to hegemony-eliminating patents would increase the willingness of other nations to cooperate with U.S. strategic interests

Fidler, 04 (The Harvard Environmental Law Review, Spring, 2004, 17 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 99, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: ARTICLE: Fighting the Axis of Illness: HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, and U.S. Foreign Policy, NAME: David P. Fidler, Professor of Law and Ira C. Batman Faculty Fellow, Indiana University School of Law--Bloomington.).

The hegemony dilemma does not mean that getting the United States to pay more attention to the global HIV/AIDS problem is impossible. …….the pandemic's potential to frustrate U.S. strategic interests in areas in which the United States, even as hegemon, needs cooperation, such as the war on terrorism and trade liberalization.

Hard power isn’t sustainable without soft power-increased foreign assistance through programs like PEPFAR is vital to increasing US soft power

Brainard and Schwartz, 6/12/2007 (Lael, Vice President and Director of Global Economy and Development at Brookings and Bernard, Chair in International Economies, “Foreign Assistance Reform: Successes, Failures, and Next Steps” Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, http://www.brookings.edu/views/testimony/20070612brainard.htm)

In a world transformed by globalization and challenged by terrorism, foreign aid deserves attention as a critical instrument of American soft power …….most notably the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The UN is the epitome of soft power and cooperation. Plan would bolster US credibility Shashi Tharoor, UN Undersecretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2003, “Why America Still Needs the United Nations,” http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030901faessay82505-p10/shashi-tharoor/why-america-still-needs-the-united-nations.html The United Nations is the preeminent institution of multilateralism. ….When the UN Security Council passes a resolution, it is seen as speaking for (and in the interests of) humanity as a whole, and in so doing it confers a legitimacy that is respected by the world's governments, and usually by their publics. Soft Power key to leadership and is sustainable over time Thayer, 2007 (Bradley A., “American Empire: A Debate”, Routledge, pp. 5-6) The preferred instrument of the United States is to control indirectly, through countries that share its ideology and want to align their country with the United States. …..If countries share the same goals and have the same expectations about the same international politics, then cooperation between them will be easier.

The collapse of U.S. leadership would spark wars around the globe Brookes – Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation – 7-4-2006 (Peter, New York Post, “Why They Need Us: Imagine a World Without America,” http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed070406a.cfm)

For all the worldwide whining and bellyaching about the United States, today - America's 230th birthday - provides an opportune time for them to consider for just a moment what the world might be like without good ol' Uncle Sam. …….But let us never forget, especially today, that despite the name-calling, the jeers, the petty jealousies, we're the envy of the world - and rightfully so. The fact is that no matter what anyone says: No country has given so much to so many so often - while asking for so little in return - for so little gratitude than this great country of ours.

Heg creates alliances that deter attacks Thayer, 2007 (Bradley A., “American Empire: A Debate”, Routledge) Third, our allies like Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Kuwait, Israel, and Thailand are protected by American military might…. Other states know this and, usually, that is sufficient to deter aggression against the allies of the United States.

Advantage Three: U.S./Thailand Relations

SUPPORTING GENERIC ARVs IS CRITICAL TO SOLVE THE COLLAPSE OF US-THAI RELATIONS Ashley Wills, 5-11-2007, Ambassador Ashley Wills is former Assistant United States Trade Representative (USTR) for South Asia, Bangkok Post, “Thailand and the US: Back from the brink,” http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business/pharmaceuticals/bot_watching_natural_or_danger_1.php In recent weeks, Thailand has been feuding with government and industry officials in the United States….. we should take steps now to put aside these recent differences. It is in the interest of both nations for their government ministers to come to agreeable terms quickly and in good faith.

US-THAI RELATIONS KEY TO US ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA Royal Thai Embassy, April 1997, “Thai-U.S. Relations, An Overview of Thai – U.S. Relations,” www.thaiembdc.org/politics/thaius/thusovw.htm The mutual security agreements still continue to remain strong today. …….New and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation between the two countries should be sought out.

US ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA IS CRITICAL TO PREVENT ASIAN PROLIFERATION Ashley J. Tellis, April 2000, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in international security, defense, and Asian strategic issues, B.A., M.A.; University of Bombay; M.A., Ph.D., The University of Chicago, “Smoke, Fire, and What to Do in Asia,” http://www.policyreview.org/apr00/tellis_print.html I believe that the commitment to U.S. regional preeminence remains the best solution to our multiple national security interests in Asia. …….a hegemonic strategy, whereby the U.S. continues to provide local security, remains the best strategy — not because it is by any means risk-free but because it is better than all the alternatives.

PROLIFERATION RESULTS IN EXTINCTION Utgoff, 2002, Deputy Director of Strategy, Forces, & Resources Division of Institute for Defense Analysis (Victor A., “Proliferation, Missile Defence and American Ambitions,” Survival, Summer, p. 87-90) Further, the large number of states that became capable of building nuclear weapons over the years, but chose not to, can be reasonably well explained by the fact that most were formally allied with either the United States or the Soviet Union. Both these superpowers had strong nuclear forces and put great pressure on their allies not to build nuclear weapons. ……….every once in a while we will all gather on a hill to bury the bodies of dead cities or even whole nations.