
General Information
McGill Global AIDS Coalition is an HIV/AIDS advocacy group dedicated to the eradication of HIV/AIDS and to the realization, worldwide, of the right to health. We are committed to helping to create an effective student advocacy network in Canada and to educating the McGill and Montreal community on global health issues
To read more, click here: About MGAC
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November 3rd, 2009
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

Posted in Equitable Licensing | No Comments
September 28th, 2009
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
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September 14th, 2009
If you are interested in joining the McGill Global AIDS Coalition and have not joined our listserv, please leave your name and email address so we can add you to our listserv! To do so, simply leave a comment to this post with your information, or directly send it to Maeva Peek.
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September 13th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to another year of action, advocacy and generally epic times. I hope summer’s departure has not been too painful, but we’ve got news to make you forget all about that.
MGAC is kicking off with its first General Meeting on Thursday, the 17th of September, from 5-6p.m. in room B30 of the SSMU Building.
We encourage everyone to come to enjoy the complementary refreshments, delicious foodstuffs and to learn more about MGAC, our advocacy platform, and our plans for this year. Among other things, we will be discussing executive positions up for grabs!
This year, we have both
•Media Coordinator
•Treasurer
Open to anyone! And even if you’re not interested in any of the above positions, we love fresh blood, so come by our meeting this Thursday and find out how you can get involved/schmooze with unreasonably cool people. We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, email Maeva Peek: member.coordinator@treatthepeople.com
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