Protests were held in Washington and New Delhi, India, on Monday against the pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The company is seeking to overturn an Indian law regarding drug patents. Demonstrators say that if Norvatis wins the lawsuit, it will threaten India’s ability to manufacture low-cost generic drugs that are distributed throughout the Global South to treat AIDS and other diseases. Monique Wanjala spoke in New Delhi.

Monique Wanjala: “I have been living with HIV for the last, this is 13 years now, and I have been on treatment on ARVs since 2004, and this is because access has been made easier. And we are saying that if Novartis go through with this case, what does it mean to us as people living with HIV? It means that our lives are at stake.”

In Washington, activists from the Global AIDS Alliance tried to deliver a mini coffin to the downtown office of Novartis.