AIDS Advocates to Protest Pharma’s 340B National Leadership Summit in D.C.

Thursday, June 11^th, protest, 8 a.m. - 9 a.m., Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center

Under the guise of ‘leadership,’ the pharmaceutical industry is actually trying to undermine elements of the government’s successful and lifesaving 340B discount drug program, which serves underserved communities through pharmacies run by AIDS and other community groups.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation’s largest HIV/AIDS nonprofit medical provider, are spearheading a protest in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 11^th, at 8:00 a.m. ET targeting the pharmaceutical industry as it hosts the “340B National Leadership Summit.” Under the guise of ‘leadership,’ the pharmaceutical industry is actually trying to weaken and dismantle elements of the government’s successful and lifesaving 340B discount drug program, which serves underserved communities through pharmacies run by AIDS service organizations and other community groups. Advocates believe drug industry lobbyists were behind an eleventh-hour attempt to insert language into the ‘21^st Century Cures’ federal legislation that would have undermined critical components of the bill.

WHAT:	HIV Advocates PROTEST at the “340B National Leadership Summit” in D.C.
	Under the guise of ‘leadership,’ the pharmaceutical industry is actually trying to undermine elements of the government’s successful and lifesaving 340B discount drug program, which serves underserved communities through pharmacies run by AIDS service organizations and other community groups.
WHEN:	THURSDAY, June 11, 2015
	8:00 – 9:00 a.m. EASTERN Time
WHERE:	The Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
	(entrance of building on sidewalk facing the National Theatre)
	1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
WHO:	Jessica Reinhart, Senior Grassroots Community Manager, AHF
	With a dozen AIDS & drug pricing advocates & protesters with banners, signs and pig masks

“Greedy drug company lobbyists have tried to sneak changes into the 340B Drug Discount program that is the lifeline for hospitals, clinics and safety-net providers that serve low-income patients. Given AHF’s mission to provide cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to our patients regardless of their ability to pay, we have joined in national efforts to expose and stop these undercover attempts by pharmaceutical company lobbyists to make changes to this lifesaving program without public notice,” said AHF Associate Director of Community Outreach Jessica Reinhart. “We are determined to stop the drug companies’ efforts to gut a federal program that helps the neediest so they can fatten their already-overstuffed wallets.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 430,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare