SGAC is winning

News was so huge yesterday that I didn't get time to blog it. Abbott Laboratories, exclusive manufacturers of the critical AIDS treatment Kaletra, have finally registered that drug for approval to sell in South Africa. From SGAC:

Chapters --

Yesterday was an incredibly big day for the campaign. Abbott Labs announced registration of the new Kaletra in South Africa while declaring that it would be made available at $500/patient/year -- the same price level of the older version of Kaletra. Media that picked up the story attributed Abbott's actions to activist pressure that the company has been receiving over the last several months. And that pressure came directly from student activists in SGAC.

Everyone should give themselves a good pat on the back and look forward to the Week of Action (April 10-19) with a renewed energy. There are still several urgent demands that have not been addressed by Abbott at all. And while registration in S. Africa is a step towards access, it is not nearly enough.

Attached is SGAC's official response to Abbott's announcement yesterday. Please feel free to circulate to the rest of your chapter and even your school paper to show the kind of progress that we've made on this campaign. Also, there is a link provided below to view Abbott's press release from yesterday's anouncement.

Abbott Press Release:
http://abbott.com/news/press_release.cfm?id=1078

Peace,

Sara Renn
Grassroots Action Coordinator

While some of that media has been less than entirely positive towards SGAC, the recognition that the campaign got this done is amazing. Every student that's been involved to this point should be immensely proud - this injustice is starting to unravel.