Source: The Chronicle
November 09, 2009, 01:38 PM ET

Five leading research universities pledged today to do more to ensure that poor people and developing nations can get access to new drugs based on inventions coming from academic research, according to Bloomberg News. The five signers are Harvard University (which has already used licensing terms in deals to promote this “global access”) as well as the University of Pennsylvania and Boston, Brown, and Yale Universities. The push for global access comes from the campuses and from Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, which has also been urging Congress and research universities to oppose a measure in legislation to overhaul the health-care system that would give drug companies 12 years of exclusive rights to certain new kinds of drugs.

Taken from The Chronicle

The McGill Global AIDS Coalition, in collaboration with Friends of MSF, Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) HIV/AIDS and Public Health, Dignitas McGill, Canfar and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), is proud to present World AIDS Week on the McGill campus from Nov. 16 – 20!

The week will be filled with fun, interactive, informational and spiritual experiences. Check out the list below for upcoming events and join the rest of campus at World AIDS Week!

Monday, November 16 - Film Screening: Triage
Location: Rm. 219 Leacock Bldg, 855 Sherbrooke O.
Time: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
The film will be presented by Patrick Lemieux a field coordinator of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). To date, he has served in 13 different countries in Asia and Africa.
Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma, is about the experiences of former director of MSF (Dr. Orbinksi) in the war-torn areas of Somalia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tuesday, November 17 – Panel Discussion: HIV in the Montreal Community
Location: Rm. 151 Bronfman Bldg, 1001 Sherbrooke O.
Time: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Speakers:
Dr. Bluma Brenner –Researcher at the Jewish General Hospital AIDS Centre.
Mark Hapanowicz – Executive Director of AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM), a volunteer-based community organization which works to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS, to prevent HIV transmission and to promote community awareness and action.
Jean-Francois Mary – Client Representative of CACTUS Montreal, a non-profit organization which addresses itself to individuals who illicit drugs, youth who are living on the street, transvestite and transsexual persons and sex-trade workers. The organization helps to reduce the risks associated with using illicit drugs and potentially risky sexual behaviour while improving the quality of life for these individuals.
The panel discussion will be an in-depth examination on how HIV spreads in Montreal, what the patterns are and consequences associated with it. It will break the barriers of exclusion; open a non-judgemental and informative platform to discuss HIV/AIDS in Montreal.

Wednesday, November 18 – Panel Disscussion: The Criminalization of HIV/AIDS
Location: Adams Auditorium, 3450 Rue University
Time: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Speakers:
Dr. Mark Wainberg – Researcher at the Jewish General Hospital AIDS Centre
Alana Klein – Assistant professor of Law at McGill University who specializes in constitutional law, human rights law, international law and criminal law.
Dr. Norbert Gilmore – Senior Physician at the McGill University Health Centre
The criminalization of HIV/AIDS is currently a very controversial issue in Canada. The panel discussion will approach the dilemma of whether the transmission of HIV/AIDS should be criminalized or not. What are the consequences of convicting those who spread HIV/AIDS? What are the ethical questions we need to ask ourselves in doing so? These complex issues with various opinions surrounding it will be addressed at this panel discussion.

Thursday, November 19 – Music and Movement, Variety Show
Location: Ballroom 3/F, Shatner, 3480 McTavish
Time: 9:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Music and Movement will bring together the Montreal community through the arts. Featured artists include: Soulstice, Effusion, Inertia, and First you get the sugar. A fashion photography exhibit will also be displayed by fashion blogger, Fahad Asvat. Tickets are $5 and we will be serving beer at $3 a glass! Who can go wrong with drinks, dance, music and fashion?!

Friday, November 20 – Keynote Speaker - Donna Barry: Treating the Whole Person
Location: Strathcona M-1, 3460 University
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Donna Barry is the Policy Director at Partners in Health. She is responsible for guiding the advocacy and policy efforts of Partners in Health related to hunger, socioeconomic development in Haiti. During her keynote speech, Donna Barry will address the need to continue the enhancement of HIV/AIDS projects. In addition, she will speak about the successes and ‘not-so-successes’ of various HIV/AIDS projects around the world.

Dear Students,

We are happy to invite you to UAEM’s (Universities Allied for Essential Medicines) first exciting event of the year. On November 10th at 5:30pm, we will hold a discussion panel at the Thomson House addressing how university patents and licensing practices influence global access to medicines and health innovations, and specifically what role McGill can play in solving this issue. If you are interested in getting more information or joining the movement for taking McGill towards the future, please RSVP.

Every year, ten million people die as a result of a phenomenon called the access gap. This loss of life is not attributable to the diseases themselves, but to a failure by the global community to put in place the mechanisms needed to access medicines for these otherwise curable diseases. We believe that as a public institution and one renowned for its health science research, McGill can play a significant role in narrowing the global access gap. The outstanding question however, is how can McGill best promote access to its health research and medicines needed by patients worldwide. The goal of this discussion is to address this question and explore the challenges that McGill faces in implementing various licensing strategies to address global health issues.

This discussion panel is comprised of 5 well respected individuals researching and working in the field of intellectual property and licensing: Prof. Tina Piper, Assistant Professor of Law and member of McGill’s Center for Intellectual Property Policy; Mr. Christian Cawthorn, partner and patent agent at Ogilvy Renault; Dr. John DiMaio, manager of the Life Sciences unit of McGill’s Office of Technology Transfer; Ms. Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, President of the Board for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) and former Canadian Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); and, Ms. Barbara Campbell, Associate Director of Licensing at Dalhousie University.

This is a significant event for UAEM and we are honours to host this multidisciplinary panel of experts. It would be our pleasure to have you as our guest. Also note that this event is open to both students and members from all faculties, so please feel free to forward this e-mail to your colleagues. Please also view and print out the attached poster for your reference.

Symposium details

When: Nov. 10th 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Where: Thomson House (3650 McTavish - Basement Restaurant)

Details: A cocktail will follow

If you’re interested in participating, please RSVP by Nov. 7th. To RSVP or for further info please contact uaem.mcgill@gmail.com

Sincerely,

McGill UAEM Co-ordinators

Join MGAC and the Stephen Lewis Foundation in the nationwide challenge, A Dare to Remember. Your support will go directly to African grandmothers, children, and women who are doing what was thought impossible: turning the tide of AIDS in their communities.

McGill students are being dared to create a Human Art Attack. On October 22, 2009 we will be using (hopefully many) of our bodies to create a gigantic image on the Lower Field. We’re going to be arranging ourselves into a shape- right now we are thinking an AIDS ribbon, but are open to suggestions!

We ask you to join us in our dare or do a dare of your own and to ask your family and friends to sponsor you. All proceeds will go to community-based organizations in Africa.

Check out the campaign website:
http://www.adaretoremember.com/index.cfm

And our TEAM PAGE:
http://stephenlewisfoundation.akaraisin.com/t/McGill.aspx

Please contact Toby or Samara if you are interested in taking an active role (beyond just participating in the dare and getting sponsorship)! We want to make this event as successful as possible and the more, the merrier.

Toby: toby.samson@mail.mcgill.ca or 514-770-2938
Samara: samara.laskin@mail.mcgill.ca