E-drug: 11th Model List of Essential Drugs (cont'd)
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Dear Richard,
This question of infrastructure was discussed a fair amount during a
meeting earlier this week with USTR and Dr Tom Novotny from US
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and a number of
AIDS treatment activists, MSF and other NGOs. I think that everyone
in the room appreciated the difficulties of treating HIV/AIDS patients in
Africa and other developing countries, however there was also
concern (well founded in my opinion) that the US government would
use the infrastructure issue as an excuse to oppose compulsory
licensing laws in developing countries. There are many issues that are
raised with respect to this issue. For example, suppose you have a
country where some portion of the population can be expected to
profit from treatment with anti-AIDs drugs like d4T, 3TC or the like,
but that these drugs were not realistic treatments for others in the
same country. Would the infrastructure issue be used to deny the
whole country access to cheap drugs? Would the USTR use the issue
of a lack of infrastructure for anti-retroviral drugs as a basis for
denying the legal mechanisms to provide for compulsory licensing of
drugs like fluconazole, that would be appropriate.
Also, from the point of view of the infected persons, drugs that
prevent death, if taken properly, obviously seem essential. So the
failure to determine that such a drug is "essential" is seen by some as
a political statement that the life isn't essential. I know this isn't your
view. But these words have meanings that will be used by many
different persons for different purposes.
Jamie
James Love
Center for Study of Responsive Law
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
Voice 202/387-8030 | Fax 202/234-5176
e-mail: love@cptech.org
http://www.cptech.org
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