New research shows that Gilead Sciences' HIV medicine, lenacapavir, could
be sold for just $40. But Gilead is charging more than $40,000 USD.

The International AIDS Conference is happening in Germany all this week.
It brings together people living with HIV, healthcare professionals,
scientists and policy makers to collaborate on preventing and treating HIV
and AIDS. 

Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAids, said Gilead's new
treatment could be "life-saving" for people facing stigma and violence
because of their HIV status or sexuality. Gay men, trans women and young
women in Africa could get an injection twice a year instead of having to
take daily pills and hide these from those around them. 

But this will only be possible if Gilead stops prioritising profit before
people's health.

We have an opportunity right now whilst there's a global focus on HIV to
call on Gilead to make its new medicine accessible and affordable for
everyone. [ [link removed] ]John, will you join more than 21,819 Ekō members
and add your name to the petition?

With determination, 
Nish and the Ekō team

More information:
[ [link removed] ]HIV drug could be made for just $40 a year for every patient
The Guardian 23 July 2024

[ [link removed] ]UN urges Gilead to 'make history' with game-changing HIV drug
Yahoo!News 22 July 2024

In case you missed it, below is our email about Gilead's new HIV treatment
from a few days ago.



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Gilead Sciences has a new HIV medicine that could save millions of lives.
But it's only available in a few wealthy countries for very rich people.

Tell Gilead: make HIV medicine accessible and affordable for everyone.

[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 

   
John,

Gilead Sciences new vaccine can treat and prevent HIV with just two
injections each year. But with a price tag of $42,000 USD, millions of
people are missing out on life saving treatment. We could help change
this.

The International AIDS Conference starts on Monday. It's the perfect
platform for Gilead to announce it will make its groundbreaking HIV
medicine affordable and accessible for everyone worldwide, not just for
rich people.

Celebrities like Gillian Anderson and Stephen Fry and the Nobel-winning
scientist who helped discover HIV have already signed an open letter
urging Gilead to share these vaccines with low and middle income
countries.

The development and distribution of the Covid vaccine showed us companies
will do this when there’s enough public pressure. Will you help build
momentum before the AIDS Conference and make this too big for Gilead to
ignore?

[ [link removed] ]Add your name to the petition: make HIV medicine accessible and
affordable for everyone.

Each year 1 million people test positive for HIV, and more than 600,000
die from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide. But Gilead's injection could
change that by treating AND preventing HIV. It would save and change
millions of lives, especially those facing stigma, young women fighting
for body autonomy, sex workers and LGBTQ+ people.

More than 40 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses. But HIV
is a very manageable health condition when people are able to access care
and treatment.

Gilead received public money from the US Government for previous research
and development of a HIV prevention drug called Truvada. And despite
Gilead making billions from selling Truvada each year, the public and the
US Government don’t get any of that money. The gatekeeping by big, rich
companies needs to end now. 

[ [link removed] ]Add your name to the petition calling on Gilead to save lives.

It’s been done before. Last year after sustained public pressure Johnson &
Johnson signed a deal to sell its tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline, in most
lower and middle income countries, giving millions access to a cheaper
life-saving drug.

And the Ekō community has a successful track record of pushing big
corporations to do the right thing too. When we took action and called on
Covid vaccine patent rights to be waived so that more countries could
produce their own cheaper and easily accessible treatments it worked.

Let’s do it again.



[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 



Thanks for all that you do,
Nish, Nick and the team at Ekō


More information:

[ [link removed] ]Celebrities join campaigners in call for cheaper version of
‘gamechanger’ HIV drug for poorer countries
The Guardian 30 May 2024
[ [link removed] ]Open Letter
People's Medicines Alliance 27 May 2024
[ [link removed] ]How an Innovative Deal Will Give Millions Access to Cheaper
Tuberculosis Drugs
Time 20 June 2023

 

 

Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep Ekō strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]