TOWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban
An executive director of a major pharmaceutical company admitted to paying a controversial Aids Activist group to demonstrate at the stall of a rival company at the Durban Aids Conference. Geoffrey Sturchio, executive director of public affairs for Merck Sharpe and Dome (MSD) admitted funding the controversial Aids Coalition to Unlease Power (Act-Up) to demonstrate at the stall of rival Boehringer Ingelheim. The admission came after Act-Up staged a demonstration at Boehringer Ingelheim and after a vocal altercation with conference organisers moved to the MSD stall. Here Sturchio admitted the company funded Act-Up. In the last few days, Act-Up has disrupted several meetings at the 13th International Aids conference, demanding that the South African government supply anti-retrovirals to pregnant women. This is not the first time that a collaboration between MSD and Act-Up has been uncovered. At the 12th international Aids conference in Geneva, security personnel admitted to a journalist that the two had collaborated to stage an aggressive publicity stunt at the company's booth. Earlier this year, chairperson of the Durban conference, Professor Jerry Coovadia, refused Act-Up San Francisco--one of several Act-Up chapters who oppose AIDS drug treatments--permission to attend, saying they were disruptive and aggressive.
To contact us: ACTUPTO@mailcity.com |