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Faith-Based Investors Call on Pharmaceutical Companies to Join the Medicines Patent Pool November 30th, 2011

In honor of World AIDS Day and the United Nation’s theme, “Getting to Zero”, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) reiterate their endorsement of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) created by UNITAID, and call upon pharmaceutical companies to share their licenses for life-savings AIDS medicines.

“The ‘Getting to Zero’ theme has three main goals,” said Christina Herman of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate: “Zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths: The MPP is an effective and powerful strategy against all three. As investors in pharmaceutical companies who view access to medicines as a fundamental human right, we strongly encourage participation.”

Read the ICCR Press Release on the UNITAID Patent Pool…

 

World AIDS Day: December 1 November 30th, 2010

The global theme for 2009 and 2010 World AIDS Day is “Universal Access and Human Rights”, as chosen by The World AIDS Campaign. Please visit the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance for materials and information related to this day of focus on HIV/AIDS.

The Secretary General of the United Nations has issued a brief statement on the occasion of World AIDS Day. (Download PDF)

Global Fund calls on drug companies to “share without delay” AIDS drug patents with UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool November 15th, 2010

In an October 7, 2010 letter, the head of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, congratulated UNITAID for the announcement of an agreement between the U.S. National Institute for Health and the Medicines Patent Pool for the voluntary license of the NIH patents rights on an HIV-AID drug, Darunavir.

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Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI Appointed as Representative of VIVAT International in Vienna August 30th, 2010

Fr. Tomas Vyhnalek, OMI has been appointed as an official representative of VIVAT International at the UN headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The UN in Vienna focuses on Drugs and Crime and Fr. Vyhnalek intends to focus on Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling, Criminal Justice, Prison Reform and HIV-AIDS. All of these are issues that are of prime interest to the Oblates as well as to VIVAT.

This July appointment to the UN in Vienna, coupled with that of Daniel LeBlanc at the UN in New York and the growing network of VIVAT Congregations with members in different countries, increases the opportunities for the “voices of the poor to be heard where decisions are taken affecting their lives” (CC.RR 9a) on the above issues as well as on the Millennium Development Goals. VIVAT has an International Executive Team working in New York and a regional office in Geneva.

Continued Call for AIDS Treatment at 2010 AIDS Conference in Vienna August 5th, 2010

This report comes from the 2010 International AIDS Conference which took place July 19-23 in Vienna, Austria. The Missionary Oblates JPIC offices were represented by Fr Tomáš Vyhnálek OMI, the JPIC coordinator for Europe based in Vienna. He also represented the Oblate JPIC offices in Washington D.C and the General office in Rome.

The 18th international Aids conference in Vienna ended Friday with one strong message: Despite the financial crisis the fight against HIV/AIDS must not decrease.

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Oblate to attend 2010 International AIDS Conference July 14th, 2010

The XVIII International AIDS Conference is taking place in Vienna from July 18-23, 2010 . The Conference is a major gathering of those working in the field of HIV, government leaders, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the AIDS pandemic. It is convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS), in partnership with government, scientific and civil society partners in Austria, as well as international partners from civil society and the United Nations. It is a chance to assess the current state of affairs, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward.

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