PHM-Exch> affordable generic medicines

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: "sat at aidsaccess.com"


Letter To:     Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Thailand, and

Trade and Economic Section, the EU Delegation to Thailand



Lives of million people in developing countries, including Thailand, are
relying on affordable generic medicines.  But, their lives are now under
severe threat due to the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation
between the European Union and India.

India is the biggest generic-drug manufacturer country who supplies 80% of
essential medicines to the developing world, especially antiretroviral
medicines. Thailand is a country that provides essential medicines (e.g.
AIDS, heart-disease, and cancer drugs) supplied by the Indian manufacturers
to millions of patients in their national health insurance systems.

The European Commission (EC) is pushing the agreement, with intellectual
property restrictions more stringent than the World Trade Organization’s IP
agreement (known as TRIPS Agreement), that will greatly restrict access to
affordable medicines for people in developing countries.  The EC is
shutting down the “pharmacy “ of the developing world and clipping off the
lifeline of million patients whose lives depend on the live-saving
medicines at affordable prices from India.

I would like to urge the EC to exclude the following provisions in the
agreement:

·       *Patent term extension*, which will prolong the patents longer than
20 years as required by the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement.

·       *Data exclusivity*, which will make registration of generic
versions of medicines difficult.

·       *Enforcement provisions*, which require India’s Executive and
Judiciary to prioritise the enforcement of private patent rights and which
will effectively deter generic competition.

·       *Border measures*, which will make export of medicines from India
to other developing countries difficult, if not impossible.



For those who desperately need these affordable, life-saving medicines all
over the developing world, I ask that the EC reverse its positions and
commit to supporting access to medicines for all.
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