Oxfam Launches Campaign To Fight High Prices
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Source: UNWire
http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/unwire.cfm#2
Charity group Oxfam launched its "Cut the Cost" campaign today to
raise public awareness of the high prices charged by drug companies
in the world's poorest countries.
"The global pharmaceuticals industry runs a great risk if it contin-
ues to protect its profits and drug patents at all costs," said
Justin Forsyth, Oxfam's policy director. "This is the shadowy side of
globalization" (Diane Coyle, London Independent, 12 Feb).
Oxfam accuses drug companies of valuing profit over the lives of peo-
ple in developing countries. While pharmaceutical companies argue
that bringing new medicines to the market can be expensive -- with an
estimated cost of US$ 1 billion -- campaigners argue that 90% of new
medicines are designed for 10% of the world's population, mainly in
rich countries (Sarah Boseley, London Guardian, 12 Feb).
Oxfam estimates that 11 million people in developing countries die
each year from preventable illnesses. In addition, the HIV/AIDS epi-
demic in sub-Saharan Africa has made the issue more complicated, ac-
cording to the London Independent. The United Nations estimates that
25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will die from opportunistic
infections due to HIV/AIDS.
Oxfam Targets Largest Drug Company
Oxfam singled out drug company GlaxoSmithKline in its campaign, call-
ing for it to withdraw its legal challenge to efforts by developing
countries to import cheaper medicines from overseas (Coyle, London
Independent).
Large institutional investors in GlaxoSmithKline, such as Friends
Ivory Simes, which invested US$ 1.4 billion in the drug company, sup-
port Oxfam's campaign. "If millions of Africans are dying of prevent-
able disease and one reason is that drug companies are charging too
much, you have a serious reputational risk," said Craig Mackenzie,
director of governance for Friends Ivory Simes (David Pilling, Finan-
cial Times, 12 Feb).
Developing countries are required under World Trade Organization pro-
visions to pass patent laws by 2006 to simplify legal challenges
against the use of generic drugs. Even though international regula-
tions allow patents to be overridden in the case of overwhelming pub-
lic need, most developing countries lack the resources to fight West-
ern companies in court (Coyle, London Independent).
"It's hard to understand [GlaxoSmithKline]'s reason for pursuing this
particularly narrow interpretation of what is permissible ... in poor
countries struggling to combat the AIDS epidemic," Oxfam said (David
Pilling, Financial Times II, 12 Feb).
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