AIDS groups at the International AIDS Society conference in Rome this week “expressed outrage at ongoing free trade agreement negotiations by the United States and the European Union with multiple developing countries that threaten access to medicines for HIV, TB, hepatitis-C as well as other diseases in these countries,” according to a release.
The groups are angry because despite renewing their commitment to flexibilities in the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which allow maximum space for trade in generic medications for AIDS and other serious illnesses, the US and EU are pushing TRIPS-plus protections for brand name drug firms in their respective bilateral trade negotiations.
The release from the groups lists the EU-India FTA and Trans-Pacific Partnership (in the US case) as examples of agreements where stricter intellectual property chapters are being pushed on developing countries. India has been fighting back against EU demands. Indian generic drug companies supply AIDS medication cheaply to 80 per cent of people in developing countries. The cost of using brand name drugs is $15,000 per person versus $70 if generics are used, according to the statement from AIDS groups.
“The EU has been demanding longer patent terms, new monopolies on clinical trial data that prevent the registration of generic medicines, patent enforcement measures and investment rules that allow multinational companies to sue the Indian government over policies promoting affordable medicines,” said Alessandra Cerioli, Chair of LILA – Italian League for the Fight against AIDS.
Though not mentioned in the release, Canada is facing pressure from the US and EU to extend data protection and patent term limits on Big Pharma products. It has become a major sticking point in the ongoing Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement negotiations, with most provinces likely opposed to unreasonable new protections for the brand industry. By stalling the introduction of cheaper generics in the Canadian market, these IP reforms would add $2.8 billion annually to public and private health insurance plans, according to the most credible study.
There is also a strong campaign in Canada from AIDS campaigners to remove regulatory red tape to more generic drug exports which could help developing countries. A bill that would have reformed Canada’s access to medicine legislation died on the order paper before the last election. Those supporting the bill (C-393) were distressed to say the least by Harper’s last-minute politicking in the Senate, which he claims to want to abolish.
“It is a travesty that the Government, having made much of its initiative on maternal and child health, would now turn its back on an opportunity to help people dying of treatable diseases – and in a fashion that would cost no taxpayer money and, In fact, would make Canada’s foreign aid dollars even more effective,” wrote those Canadian groups in a statement earlier this year. “It is sad irony that non-governmental organizations have had to make the case for harnessing the power of competition in the market, which competition has been proven to reduce the cost of medicines for dying people in developing countries.”
To send a letter immediately to the Harper government demanding it reject unnecessary and costly drug reforms in the Canada-EU trade negotiations, use the Canadian Health Coalition action alert here.
To read the full statement from AIDS groups this week on EU and U.S. free trade agreements and access to medicines, click here.
