Join us in telling @DanaherCorp to do the right thing! Sign the petition and tell @CepheidNews it’s #TimeFor5 dollar tests for ALL diseases! https://timefor5.msfaccess.org/

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Lowering the price of the standard TB test alone is not enough, @DanaherCorp & @CepheidNews! Nerdfighteria is still waiting for you to put #PeopleOverProfits and lower tests for XDR-TB and many other dangerous diseases. It’s #TimeFor5!

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.@CepheidNews & @DanaherCorp – The lower price for your standard TB tests will make a huge difference, thank you. But you can do more! Cheaper tests for XDR-TB, HIV, Ebola, COVID, and so many other diseases could save millions of lives! #PeopleOverProfits

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It’s time to tell @DanaherCorp that we want fairly priced GeneXpert tests for ALL diseases! It’s #TimeFor5! Sign the petition: https://timefor5.msfaccess.org/

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Medical testing is essential! Sign the @MSF_access petition and tell @DanaherCorp that it’s #TimeFor5 dollar tests for ALL diseases: https://timefor5.msfaccess.org/

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Check out the TBFighters Graphics Library, which contains graphics made by MSF Access Campaign and graphics made by our community! Feel free to use them on any social media or communication tool. Alt text is provided. Please use it!

Email Template 1

Hello,

I’m reaching out to you out of concern for the millions of people living with dangerous diseases who do not receive a diagnosis. Your GeneXpert machines can diagnose Ebola, HIV, extensively drug-resistant TB, hepatitis, and many common sexually transmitted infections, but they are out of reach to the people who need them most because of unreasonably high prices.

Independent research has shown that you can make a fair profit at $5, which would allow governments and organizations to scale up testing, but these tests currently cost $15-$20, too expensive for many who need them. Millions of people continue to die of treatable diseases but your tests could help change that.

I urge you to continue showing your commitment to putting people over profits by lowering all your tests to $5 and helping save millions of lives.

Regards,

[Name]

Email Template 2

Dear Danaher team,

As you know, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, killing 1.3 million people in 2022. Many people and organizations around the world have been working to help put an end to that horrifying statistic, and your tests are a crucial part of it. Lowering the price of your MTB/RIF tests is a massive step in the right direction, allowing millions more people to quickly and accurately get tested for TB and rifampin resistance, but that alone is not enough.

In 2022, around 410,000 people developed a form of drug-resistant TB, but only about 2 in 5 were diagnosed and given appropriate treatment. Your Xpert MTB/XDR tests can diagnose resistance to an incredible number of TB drugs, which would allow those people to be quickly and safely treated for the most dangerous forms of TB without unnecessary exposure to toxic and unsafe treatments.

Ebola virus disease can have a fatality rate as high as 90% without effective preventative and supportive care. Xpert Ebola cartridges could help save lives by ensuring quick medical care and allowing people at risk of infection to receive preventative care.

HIV/AIDS continues to affect many people globally, with an estimated 39 million people living with HIV at the end of 2022. 620,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2022, including the 167,000 people with HIV who died of tuberculosis, emphasizing the need for appropriate HIV prevention and treatment in the fight to end TB, but 14% of people with HIV don’t know their status. Your Xpert tests for HIV allow quick and accurate diagnosis, as well as the ability to assess a person's response to antiretroviral therapy.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can be caused by infectious diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) which together accounted for 1.11 million deaths in 2019. Though a vaccine is available for HBV prevention, no cure is available and people with infections require lifelong treatment. Effective treatment depends on diagnosing HBV and assessing its severity as early as possible, but only 10.5% of people estimated to be living with the disease were aware of their infection as of 2022. Hepatitis C virus is curable, yet 290,000 people died from it in 2019, partly due to a lack of diagnosis. Xpert cartridges are crucial to a fast and accurate diagnosis of both HBV and HCV, as well as continued monitoring of the diseases.

What do all these diseases have in common? You manufacture fast and effective tests for all of them, and yet they are still underdiagnosed in many low- to middle-income settings. We have the technology to save millions of lives, but at a cost of $15-20 per cartridge, it is prohibitively expensive. Your amazing tests only have the capacity to do good when they’re accessible to those who need them, and charging as much as double the median weekly wage in countries like Sierra Leone is not accessible. With nominal differences in the manufacturing processes between tests it is possible to make a reasonable profit on all of them at a price of $5. Every one of these tests can do an amazing amount of good for the world, but when it’s possible to make a fair and reasonable profit at $5, selling them for $15-20–three to four times that price–prevents them from having that impact.

While I eagerly anticipate the release of transparent information about the cost to produce MTB/RIF cartridges (your baseline TB tests), and greatly appreciate the steps you’ve taken towards more equitable testing, charging people in low- to middle-income countries $15-20 for life-saving diagnostics is not the correct path forward to helping reduce the toll of these curable diseases.

3,600 people are dying because of TB every day. 1,700 people are dying because of HIV every day. 3,000 people are dying because of hepatitis every day. Together we can put an end to the terrible and disproportionate tolls these diseases take on people living outside of high-income countries, but the first step is reasonable pricing for your lifesaving tests.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Letter for Public Figures

Dear [name],

I am writing to ask you to support a petition written by a coalition of public health groups including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Treatment Action Group. The petition asks Danaher, a large biotech conglomerate, to increase access to their diagnostics for diseases such as HIV, drug-resistant tuberculosis, hepatitis, HPV, and Ebola. Your voice would have a huge impact on amplifying this petition and making these diagnostics affordable.

Danaher owns a company called Cepheid which makes a molecular testing device called GeneXpert. In two hours, GeneXpert can diagnose people with tuberculosis and figure out which drugs doctors should prescribe. Without access to Danaher’s test for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, many people go months being treated with the wrong drugs. GeneXpert is also essential for babies born with HIV, who can only be diagnosed using molecular testing. However, Danaher charges massive markups on their tests. Even though Danaher says they can make each test for $8 (their price for their basic tuberculosis test), and independent analyses showed they could make the tests for as little as $3, Danaher charges people in low- to middle-income countries $15-$20 for their other tests. That’s more than the median weekly wage in countries like Sierra Leone. As a result, doctors have to ration care, and many people never receive an accurate diagnosis.

Please amplify the petition found at https://timefor5.msfaccess.org/, so that your [followers/network/friends] can show Danaher that it is unacceptable to profiteer off of people who need medical tests. Join the Time for $5 coalition in asking Danaher to save lives by lowering the price of all of their tests to $5. You can learn more about how you can support the campaign at https://tbfighters.org/ and https://msfaccess.org/time-for-5.

Thank you for your advocacy,

[Name]

Letter to Editor

200 words.

Dear editor,

More than two people die of tuberculosis (TB) every minute, totalling 1.3 million deaths in 2022. Of the people who develop TB this year, 410,000 of them will have a form of the disease with resistance to one or more of the drugs used to cure it. This is preventable.

Cepheid, owned by Danaher, manufactures a testing machine called GeneXpert. GeneXpert machines can diagnose numerous lethal diseases, including drug-resistant TB. GeneXpert is incredible: fully automated and able to diagnose many diseases on the same machine, all within two hours! But not without Xpert cartridges.

Xpert cartridges are the single-use tests inserted in the machine to diagnose a disease. Without them this crucial technology can’t function. Xpert cartridges are estimated to cost as little as $3 to produce, but Danaher sells their tests for drug-resistant TB, HIV, hepatitis, COVID-19, many common STIs, and Ebola for $15-$20 in the low- and middle-income countries that need them most.

At $5 Danaher would still make a healthy profit while helping save millions of lives by enabling quick and accurate diagnosis. Go to tbfighters.org to learn more and urge Danaher to put people over profits!

Thank you,

[Name]

Email a Friend or Relative

Hey [person’s name],

Over a million people die every year from tuberculosis (TB), even though it is curable, and we’ve made huge advancements in diagnosing and treating the disease. One tricky thing about TB is it has developed resistance to a lot of the medicines we have to treat it. Quick and accurate testing is essential to make sure people get the correct medications right away, so they can be cured and don’t develop new strains of drug-resistant TB. There is a company called Cepheid, owned by the business conglomerate Danaher, that makes GeneXpert testing machines, which deliver that quick and accurate testing. GeneXpert can diagnose a wide range of diseases including drug-resistant TB, HIV, hepatitis, Ebola, and more. This machine quickly and accurately diagnoses diseases, but it relies on single-use Xpert cartridges. Xpert cartridges for these diseases are sold for $15-$20 in low- and middle-income countries with the highest burdens of disease. This causes Xpert cartridges to be out of reach to many who need them.

A coalition of public health organizations including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Treatment Action Group has written a petition at https://tbfighter.link/petition that asks Danaher to make all of their tests affordable in low- and middle-income countries. With the tests currently costing up to $20, twice the median weekly wage in Sierra Leone, many people who need an accurate diagnosis cannot afford one. The petition asks Danaher to lower the prices of all of their tests to $5, a price that would let more people access diagnosis and save countless lives and still allow Danaher to make a profit.

I signed the petition because I believe that medical tests should not be a luxury. I hope you will too! Please let me know if you have any questions, and share the petition with anybody else who believes that everybody should have access to fast, accurate diagnosis. You can find more information and more ways to tell Danaher to save lives at https://tbfighters.org/ and https://www.msfaccess.org/time-for-5. You can find the petition at https://tbfighter.link/petition

Thanks!

[Name]

Email Your Representatives

Dear [Representative’s name]

I am your constituent from [your town] and I have a concern that I would like you to take a stand on. [Personal statement of conviction. Why is this important to you.] I am concerned about the threat of infectious disease at home and abroad, and the abuse of public funds and exploitation of the sick by some American companies entrusted with valuable taxpayer funds.

It is ironic that many of the world’s most malignant diseases are ones that we are able to cure. Antibiotics are effective in treating tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious disease, but it lives on. One of the problems is that millions are never diagnosed because the most accurate tests (called GeneXpert) are sold for 3-5 times their cost to produce in the world’s poorest communities. The tests for multidrug-resistant TB cost less than $5 to make, but are priced at $15, an unachievable sum to millions who need them. For every year they wait to receive treatment, about 15 others will contract TB from them. Testing as many people as possible is the way the US dealt with TB in the 1950s, and it’s the clear path to ending TB in low- and middle-income countries.

Tuberculosis is not the only disease with this problem. Danaher, who owns the company that makes GeneXpert, charges the same markup for most of their tests. They are incredible, diagnosing Ebola, hepatitis, HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and Covid-19, to name a few. The trouble is that we could identify and treat, even eradicate many of these illnesses, but we only have ready access to diagnosis and treatment in the places where these dangerous diseases are not prevalent.

Danaher doesn’t need their large markup to cover research and development costs, because they received $252 million from public funds. Grants like this are some of the best public money we spend. They defend our increasingly connected world from maladies that will always be a threat here until they are wiped off of the world map. Companies like Danaher make huge strides in healthcare, but they are not being held accountable. They use our taxes to pay their shareholders rather than eliminate the threat of these illnesses, especially for those most vulnerable. Danaher reported $10.8 billion in profits from diagnostics in 2022.

By creating these magnificent technologies, companies like Danaher are part of the solution, not the problem. Together, we can improve this situation. Independent analysis has shown that at $5 Danaher would still make a profit while allowing testing to scale up and helping save millions of lives. Danaher and others have proven to be more accountable when faced with public pressure, so they rely on anonymity. I need you to hold these companies accountable for their use of this critical public investment in everyone’s health. By doing so, you will help them take seriously the needs of the families that will lose children this year to preventable illness if US companies continue to exploit them for exorbitant profits. I urge you to tell them and the world that you will not accept this any longer.

I would appreciate a response on this life threatening problem. You can contact me by [method of response] at [address for response]. You can also sign the petition for Danaher to lower their tests to $5 at https://tbfighter.link/petition and go to https://tbfighters.org to learn more.

Thank you,

[Name]

Suggest The Story to a News Outlet

Dear [name of newspaper],

I have a concern that I think the public needs to know about. I think that if some light were shed on this it could lead to real positive change.

Lack of accountability has allowed major corporations such as Danaher (a business conglomerate) to make billions in profit and allow millions to die of preventable illness.

Danaher (and their subsidiary Cepheid) used $252 Million in public funds to produce the GeneXpert test, which is the fastest and most accurate way to diagnose tuberculosis, and can also diagnose a host of other diseases including COVID-19, Ebola, and HIV.

Despite the public funding minimizing their costs, these tests are sold, in low-to-middle-income countries, for 2-5 times what they cost to produce. The inflated price prevents access to treatment and allows these diseases to continue killing despite being curable. Millions of people die of undiagnosed illness every year because they cannot afford to pay Danaher’s highly inflated prices, while the GeneXpert system was largely funded by the public. Danaher reported $10.8 billion in profits for diagnostics in 2022.

Communities affected by TB and organizations involved in the fight against inequitable health care like MSF Access have been calling on Danaher to lower their price to $5. At $5 Danaher would still make a profit, while allowing people to receive crucial diagnostics.

March 24th is World Tuberculosis Day. A great time to air this story. As the fight continues your voice would be a powerful addition in the campaign to convince Danaher to prioritize people’s lives over profits, should you share it at any time.

Some websites you can use to find more information include https://tbfighters.org and https://msfaccess.org/time-for-5.

Thank you,

[Your Name]

If you’re having trouble thinking of what to say when you call Danaher, here’s a template to help or use as a script!

When calling, try to get a person on the line and just start talking. If enough of us call, they’ll know! If they tell you you’ve reached the wrong department, just ask them to pass your message along.

Who to call: US: +1-202-828-0850 UK: +44 (0) 1628 564 000

To help tell Danaher that people around the world care, you can find an international number here. It’s okay to call customer service, it will make it back to the people we need it to!

Remember to treat the call operators with kindness, they’re just doing their job.

Call Template:

Hello, my name is [Name] and I am calling about your GeneXpert machines. GeneXpert machine test cartridges are sold for $8-$20 when it’s possible to make a fair profit at $5. This prevents people in low- and middle-income countries from being able to receive a quick and accurate diagnosis for many dangerous diseases like HIV, hepatitis, and extensively drug-resistant TB. With 1.3 million people dying of TB every year, 354 million people living with hepatitis B or C, and 39 million people living with HIV, this is unsustainable.

By lowering the price of your Xpert cartridges to $5, millions of lives could be saved. I implore you to prioritize people’s lives over profits and help fight for equal health care access for all by selling all Xpert cartridges for $5, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Thank you.

What to expect when you call: The 202 hotline is open from 8:30am-5:00pm EDT (GMT-4). When called you are greeted with “Thank you for calling Danaher corporate office,” hold music, and then put in contact with a person.

Tips for Social Anxiety When Calling

Your anxiety is real, and even if it's not logical to be afraid of calling you are, and no one can or should deny that.
It may be helpful to prepare a script to read directly from, or at least plan out what to say. It doesn't have to be as long as the one here.
What to expect

for the 202 number, wait for the operator to pick up and just start talking. If they don't pick up you'll probably be given the option to leave a voicemail.

If you have questions or need moral support, Nerdfighteria is happy to help <3
If you are too anxious to call, that's okay! There are other ways to engage and you should prioritize your mental health.