On April 28, activists around the world protested Abbott Laboratories AIDS policies—and those developments included protests at Abbott headquarters as well as the Chicago Tribune offices.
Over 100 activists conducted two simultaneous 'die-in' protests outside the shareholders meeting and the Tribune Building in Chicago, where Abbott CEO Miles White sits on the board, according to a press release from the Student Global AIDS Campaign ( SGAC ) . These events coincided with similar actions at Abbott offices in five states in countries such as Nigeria and Thailand.
Several members of the SGAC attended a shareholder meeting, where Andrew Kohan, a group member from George Washington University, questioned White about the ACCESS program, which offers Kaletra at $500 a year to patients to 69 countries. ( Kaletra is a protease inhibitor used by those with HIV and AIDS. ) Kohan asked if the program would include the nearly 50 other 'lower-middle- and middle-income' countries excluded from Abbott's program that advocates contend are very much in need.
Activists pledged to keep the pressure on White to make the medication accessible globally.
This latest protest included a coalition of students doctors and AIDS activists, among others.