AHF Mobilizes DC World Bank Protest: Friday, October 13, 12 pm - 1 pm
October 12 2017 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
Outdated World Bank Classifications Put 75% of
the World’s Poor in Nations Designated as “Middle-Income
Countries,” Including the Majority of People Living With
HIV/AIDS
Demonstrators Will Call for Revised MIC
Designations to Increase Foreign Aid Eligibility for Poor
Countries
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) continues its activism to push
for reforms in the way the World Bank classifies “middle-income
countries” (MIC) and will hold another peaceful demonstration on
Friday, October 13th outside the World Bank’s
headquarters in Washington, DC. Building upon its “Raise The MIC”
global advocacy campaign, which was launched in 2015 with support
from over 300 organizations and advocates in 30 countries,
demonstrators will call on the World Bank to set the lower limit of
the MIC category at or above $3,650 of Gross National Income per
capita—equivalent to about $10 per day—to increase poor nations’
access to foreign aid, including HIV/AIDS drugs and other essential
medications. The World Bank currently designates MICs as those with
an income of at least $2.76/day, barely above the International
Poverty Line of $1.90/day.
For a visual breakdown of how the current MIC classification
system affects the world’s poorest countries, view this video
produced by AHF: https://youtu.be/r5bqB2lSCvM
WHAT: WORLD BANK PROTEST:
Advocates to press World Bank to update flawed Middle Income
Country (MIC) designations.
WHEN: Friday,
October
13, 2017
12 – 1 PM ET
WHERE: World Bank Headquarters
1818 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
WHO: Denys Nazarov, Associate Director of
Global Policy
B-ROLL: 100 advocates with placards,
whistles & banners, 3ft world globe balloons
CONTACT: Denys Nazarov, Associate Director of
Global Policy for AHF, +1 (323) 219-1091 cell
“Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor reside in countries
classified as middle-income, including the majority of people
living with HIV/AIDS,” said John Hassell, AHF’s Regional
Director in Washington, D.C. “The current MIC designation covers
countries whose average citizen lives just above the poverty line
and whose basic necessities are barely met. We are urging the World
Bank to revise its methodology so that it more closely aligns with
the economic realities of people in the developing world.”
AHF and its partners say that the Bank’s MIC designations—which
are frequently used by other global funders and development
bodies—translate into inadequate foreign aid for countries
suffering from poverty and prevent access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS
drugs and other essential medications. As a result of their MIC
designation, countries with weak economies face reductions in
foreign aid, fewer concessionary development loans and higher
prices for essential medicines—including lifesaving antiretroviral
therapies for HIV/AIDS. For example, Mexico, Vietnam, and Ukraine
pay as much as ten times the cost of commonly prescribed HIV drugs
compared to countries classified as low-income, despite high levels
of income inequality and greater disease burden. In Swaziland,
nearly 1 in 3 adults is HIV-positive; however, the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) has stopped providing condoms to the
country due to its MIC designation.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to
over 810,000 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.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005077/en/
AIDS Healthcare FoundationWASHINGTONDenys
NazarovAssociate Director of Global Policy for AHF+1 (323)
219-1091 celldenys.nazarov@aidshealth.orgorLOS ANGELESGed
KensleaCommunications Director for AHF+1 (323) 791-5526
cellgedk@aidshealth.org