But the U.S. government is criminalizing these efforts with its trade policy. In this April’s Summit of the Americas, the U.S. will push for an agreement which may force Brazil to close its AIDS program and buy drugs at artificially high prices. Similar stipulations are enforced through other agreements.

U.S. consumers paid $106 billion last year for prescription drugs. The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates consumers would save $79 billion if patent protections were dropped. While apologists justify patents citing the “need for innovation,” the reality is federal agencies and many universities foot more than half of the $22.5 billion spent annually on drug research without profits inspiring their creativity. Furthermore, more than 70 percent of the revenue generated by drug companies goes to marketing items like Viagra and not to research on critical drugs.

The U.S. government can save lives and money by directly financing drug research. At current levels, the drug industry will spend $240 billion over the next decade on research. Meanwhile, most proposed federal drug planss cost around $250 billion. By taking over domestic drug research, the government would save up to $10 billion, save Medicaid and Medicare from bankruptcy and save consumers 75 percent of prescription prices. It is within our means to challenge the current global HIV crisis that is threatening to obliterate Africa; whether we move forward is only a matter of political will.