Question 4
It was a time riddled with fear, uncertainty, and ignorance. Sufferers of HIV/AIDS were at the mercy of their unknown affliction and were being completely ignored or discriminated against by their families, their peers, and their governments. Much like the March on Washington, rallies for women’s suffrage, and the Occupy Wall Street movement, it was time to make a statement that would demonstrate the severity of the cause and hopefully generate attention and concern for those suffering with AIDS. ACTUP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, was formed in March of 1987 in response to the lack of concern and mismanagement of the AIDS crisis in the United States. Not only was the American government handling the epidemic poorly, it …show more content…
Protestors wore t-shirts emblazoned with the ACTUP logo and phrases like “If I die-forget burial-just drop my body on the steps of the FDA” and “We die—they do nothing.” The latter claimed all HIV at-risk groups as the collective “We,” such as homosexuals, IV drug users, men, women, and children, and accused the NIH, the FDA, the U.S. Congress, Ronald Reagan, and the national media as being members of the “they.” By this time, members of ACTUP had more refined and directed protest strategies that encouraged media coverage and publicity for their cause, including the villainification of the opposition—the FDA and the American government. The specific demands of this protest included: shortening the drug approval process to allow for human trials after the completion of Phase 1 testing, elimination of double-blind placebo trials so that infected individuals would not be refused medication, FDA support of community HIV/AIDS groups treating patients, treatment and trial participation opportunities for individuals of all ages and disease stages, and health insurance and Medicaid coverage for experimental drug …show more content…
In their first action, Health GAP successfully changed presidential hopeful Al Gore’s campaign imposing trade sanctions and obligatory licensing policies on South Africa. Within a month of Health GAP’s involvement, Gore completely changed his stance. Recently, Health GAP joined forces with the South African Treatment Access Campaign, creating the Global Treatment Action Campaign, or GTAC, with the mission to craft AIDS, international trade, and drug development policies and share AIDS treatment information on a global scale. These agencies have promoted AIDS research all around the world and have had profound effects on policy, patient treatment, and discrimination
It was a time riddled with fear, uncertainty, and ignorance. Sufferers of HIV/AIDS were at the mercy of their unknown affliction and were being completely ignored or discriminated against by their families, their peers, and their governments. Much like the March on Washington, rallies for women’s suffrage, and the Occupy Wall Street movement, it was time to make a statement that would demonstrate the severity of the cause and hopefully generate attention and concern for those suffering with AIDS. ACTUP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, was formed in March of 1987 in response to the lack of concern and mismanagement of the AIDS crisis in the United States. Not only was the American government handling the epidemic poorly, it …show more content…
Protestors wore t-shirts emblazoned with the ACTUP logo and phrases like “If I die-forget burial-just drop my body on the steps of the FDA” and “We die—they do nothing.” The latter claimed all HIV at-risk groups as the collective “We,” such as homosexuals, IV drug users, men, women, and children, and accused the NIH, the FDA, the U.S. Congress, Ronald Reagan, and the national media as being members of the “they.” By this time, members of ACTUP had more refined and directed protest strategies that encouraged media coverage and publicity for their cause, including the villainification of the opposition—the FDA and the American government. The specific demands of this protest included: shortening the drug approval process to allow for human trials after the completion of Phase 1 testing, elimination of double-blind placebo trials so that infected individuals would not be refused medication, FDA support of community HIV/AIDS groups treating patients, treatment and trial participation opportunities for individuals of all ages and disease stages, and health insurance and Medicaid coverage for experimental drug …show more content…
In their first action, Health GAP successfully changed presidential hopeful Al Gore’s campaign imposing trade sanctions and obligatory licensing policies on South Africa. Within a month of Health GAP’s involvement, Gore completely changed his stance. Recently, Health GAP joined forces with the South African Treatment Access Campaign, creating the Global Treatment Action Campaign, or GTAC, with the mission to craft AIDS, international trade, and drug development policies and share AIDS treatment information on a global scale. These agencies have promoted AIDS research all around the world and have had profound effects on policy, patient treatment, and discrimination