International AIDS Conference Sparks Protest Of Obama Trade Policies

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of people marched on the White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Tuesday to protest a new trade agreement that public health experts warn would cut off access to life-saving medications for AIDS patients.

The protests are tied to the International AIDS Conference, a week-long event in the nation's capital devoted to improving global treatment programs, sharpening public policies and ending the disease. Thirteen people were arrested after hanging AIDS ribbons on the White House fence and refusing to clear the street in front of the White House. Thousands of others decamped across the street to Lafayette Park, chanting, "Obama, come out, we've got some sh*t to talk about!"

Activists in Washington this week are demanding a handful of policy changes related to HIV/AIDS, including immediate treatment for the thousands of low-income Americans currently on waiting lists for HIV drugs, the full implementation of Obama's domestic health care reform bill, increased global AIDS relief funding and an end to free trade agreements that inflate the prices of drugs around the world by granting long-term monopolies to pharmaceutical companies.

Hundreds of public health organizations have backed the agenda, which is posted online at WeCanEndAIDS.org. Many were present at the protests, including representatives of the American Medical Student Association.

Nevertheless, President Barack Obama's administration has opposed many of policy changes, cutting global AIDS funding under the popular PEPFAR program, while pursuing trade policies that economists say increase the prices of AIDS medications, cancer drugs and other life-saving medications both at home and abroad.

By contrast, Obama's Affordable Care Act contains a host of provisions to broaden and lower the cost of domestic health insurance. Those policies should make insurance more widely available and less expensive for HIV patients. Obama's trade policies, however, could ultimately increase the cost of that insurance.