The Children Can鈥檛 Wait Committee of northern Vancouver Island will present a Who Cares? event in front of John Duncan鈥檚 constituency office in Courtenay this Friday at 11:30 a.m. The office is at 576 England Ave.Who cares? We care! individuals and groups all over Canada worked to help pass the reform to CAMR (Canadian Access to Medicines Regime) bill.CAMR as it currently stands is deeply flawed, and has allowed export of only one shipment of generic drugs since it came into existence, says the Children Can鈥檛 Wait Committee (CCWC) in a news release.Every year, over half a million children die in Africa from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, the group adds. There are currently no affordable drugs to treat children for HIV/AIDS so very few children receive any treatment.Canada鈥檚 largest generic drug company, Apotex, has promised to make a lower-cost children鈥檚 version of a key AIDS drug for export as well as other drugs 鈥� if Canada鈥檚 law is streamlined, CCWC explains.Over the past three years, two bills that would have made possible the production and export of affordable medicine for children have come close to passage in Parliament.This year, in March, Bill C-393, designed to reform CAMR, passed in the House of Commons supported by members from all parties, including 26 Conservative MPs.John Duncan was not among the supporters, notes CCWC."As a minister, he could have been a great help to ensure the passage of the bill through the Senate. Instead, several Conservative Senators worked to stall the bill and let it die on the order table when the election was called," CCWC accuses."The will of the democratically elected House of Commons was subverted by an unelected Senate, and in particular, by two Senators recently appointed by Stephen Harper. (The previous bill died when Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament in 2009.)As a token of our huge disappointment in Mr. Duncan鈥檚 stand on Bill C-393, the Children Can鈥檛 Wait Committee of northern Vancouver Island says it will present him with the first Do Nothing Award on Friday.CCWC says it asks all concerned members of the public to attend and show support for a Canada that puts human lives over politics and profits.For more information, contact Barbara Baird at 250-335-1441, barbara_baird007@hotmail.com.鈥� Children Can鈥檛 Wait Committee
