US embassy cable - 03HARARE1841

UNCLAS HARARE 001841 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, KMDR, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION SA DRUG DEAL WITH WTO HAILED; 
HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "SA drugs deal with WTO noble" the 
      pro-government weekly "The Sunday Mirror" dedicated 
      its September 7 editorial to hailing a drug 
      manufacturing and importation deal between South 
      Africa and the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
      saying the deal "has far-reaching positive 
      implications for Southern Africa."  Excerpts: 
 
  2.   "The Southern African region should give a round of 
      applause to the WTO for striking a drug 
      manufacturing and importation deal with South 
      Africa.  Under the deal, South Africa is set to 
      become a major manufacturer of pharmaceuticals for 
      the rest of Africa.  The recently signed accord will 
      enable African countries facing public health crises 
      and without the capacity to manufacture generic 
      drugs, to import them from South Africa.  This 
      development has far-reaching positive implications 
      for Southern Africa.  The region is the worst hit by 
      HIV/Aids, with South Africa itself and Botswana said 
      to be leading the pack in Africa. . .If South Africa 
      were to manufacture ARVs wholesale, its neighbors 
      would access them relatively easily and this would 
      go a long way in stemming the pandemic that has 
      already claimed millions of lives in the region.  It 
      is encouraging that the accord specifically 
      indicates that manufactured drugs would be available 
      at accessible prices.  In this regard, the 
      pharmaceutical deal goes beyond pure entrepreneurial 
      considerations; it takes on a social responsibility 
      dimension.  In addition, most of the countries in 
      the region have poor health delivery systems owing 
      to the struggling economies.  They would no longer 
      need to travel far and wide to obtain vital but 
      scarce drugs." 
 
SULLIVAN