Pills Profits Protest: Chronicle of the Global AIDS Movement

Examining efforts to insure proper medical care for the poor who are afflicted with HIV, filmmakers Anne-christine d'Adesky, Shanti Avirgan, and Ann T. Rossetti's Pills Profits Protest effectively weaves together footage from protest rallies and commentary from activists and medical workers in South Africa, Haiti, Brazil, India, and the United States, whose collective voices have made real progress in getting low-cost, lifesaving drugs to the indigent (in marked contrast to responses from wealthy nations, whose ineffective policies often place too much emphasis on prevention over treatment). The documentary points to successes—such as Brazil, where activists played a role in persuading the government to institute universal access to proper treatment—and also explains that while patent disputes have long inhibited the development and availability of generic drugs, the pharmaceutical industry is now less inclined to block the manufacturing of affordable drugs. While the 20-year-old AIDS activist group ACT UP has played a large part in these changes, “big pharma” is also responding to negative images in the mainstream press. Pills Profits Protest not only serves to increase awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS, but also details how treatments of the disease have been blocked in the interest of profits, while underscoring the effectiveness and impact of grassroots movements on global policy. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (N. Egan)