<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in">From: "<a href="mailto:sat@aidsaccess.com" target="_blank">sat@aidsaccess.com</a>" <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"><br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">Letter To:<span> </span>Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to
Thailand, and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">Trade and Economic Section, the EU Delegation
to Thailand</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">Lives of million people in developing countries, including Thailand, are
relying on affordable generic medicines. <span> </span><span>But, their
lives are now under severe threat due to the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
negotiation between the European Union and India.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">India</span></span><span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"> 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.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">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.<span> </span>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.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">I would like to urge the EC to exclude the following provisions in the
agreement:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-GB"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Patent term extension</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">, which will prolong the patents longer than 20
years as required by the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement.<span>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-GB"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Data exclusivity</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">, which will make registration of generic versions of medicines
difficult. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-GB"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Enforcement provisions</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">, which require India’s Executive and Judiciary to
prioritise the enforcement of private patent rights and which will effectively
deter generic competition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-GB"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Border measures</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">, which will make export of medicines from India to other developing countries
difficult, if not impossible. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:BrowalliaUPC" lang="TH"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>