E-drug: Big Canadian drug companies embrace AIDS plan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Copied as fair use. HH]
Big Canadian drug companies embrace AIDS plan
By Heather Scoffield and Paul Knox
The Globe and Mail, Thursday, 2 October 2003
Brand-name pharmaceutical companies in Canada removed a
significant barrier to a plan to provide life-saving drugs to poor
countries, saying they will work with Ottawa to allow generic drug
makers to produce patented medicines for AIDS-stricken areas.
Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, a lobby
group for the brand-name firms, said in a press release that it
recognizes that Canada "has an opportunity to show international
leadership" by changing patent laws to improve access to drugs for
the diseases.
The statement contrasted sharply with the position last week of an
international brand-name industry official, who called Ottawa's new
generics plan window-dressing and a "negative black eye" that would
drive investment away from Canada.
And it was hailed as a "very significant development" by Stephen
Lewis, the United Nations special envoy to Africa on AIDS issues,
who had earlier criticized brand-name manufacturers for resisting the
plan.
Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien's government should now be able to get
amended patent laws in place before the end of the year, Mr. Lewis
said. "They've got everybody on board."
Nevertheless, federal officials expect tough negotiations with the
brand-name manufacturers over the scope of patent exemptions.
The officials, working around the clock on the legislation, hope it can
become law in the next month or so before Mr. Chr�tien prorogues
the House of Commons in preparation for his retirement.
Liberal politicians are lobbying other parties to get the unanimous
support required for quick passage.
But federal insiders say the drafting is proving harder than Industry
Minister Allan Rock initially thought and it may be "next to impossible"
to push it through this fall.
The new legislation would exempt generic drug companies from
regulations that make it illegal for them to produce cheaper versions
of brand-name companies' drugs.
Without speedy implementation, it would be hard to translate the
Canadian initiative into realization of the UN's goal of getting three
million AIDS patients worldwide into drug treatment by 2005.
Mr. Lewis said yesterday he hopes Ottawa's move will prod other rich
countries to take similar steps.
It was a plea from Mr. Lewis last week that prompted federal cabinet
ministers to go public with the new plan, which would allow Canada's
generic drug makers for the first time to export low-cost versions of
anti-AIDS and other medicines to the developing world.
Besides the cabinet and the generics industry, the plan has the
support of prime-minister-designate Paul Martin, several UN
organizations, global health advocates and AIDS support groups from
around the world.
"We strongly believe that if properly implemented, this brave step will
make a significant contribution toward ensuring a sustainable supply
of affordable essential medicines in the developing world," an AIDS
treatment group in South Africa said.
Murray Elston, president of the group representing Canadian
brand-name companies, mainly subsidiaries of multinational
pharmaceutical companies, said in the statement that Canadian
legislation should be consistent with a World Trade Organization
agreement on access to generic drugs reached in August.
That deal sought to meet the needs of developing countries ravaged
by diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria while protecting
the patent rights of brand-name companies that fund costly research
into new medicines.
The brand-name industry "is working with the federal government to
determine how the WTO decision can best be implemented, taking
into account the current and future needs of developing countries, of
Canada and of patients worldwide," Mr. Elston said in the statement.
The manufacturers have previously said they feared low-cost
generics exported to poor countries would be smuggled back to
Europe and North America, undercutting brand-name drugs and
rendering patents worthless.
Last week, Harvey Bale, director-general of the International
Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations in Geneva,
said the Canadian initiative would erode patent protection and "won't
solve a thing."
Still to be determined is the scope of patent exemptions in Ottawa's
new legislation.
Speaking to reporters in Toronto yesterday, global health advocates
hailed the initiative but warned against restricting exemptions to
health emergencies or specific diseases.
"How many people would have to be sick or die before we call it an
emergency?" asked Richard Elliott, director of policy and research for
the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.
Exemptions should extend to drugs for cancer, diabetes, asthma and
other conditions, Mr. Elliott said. "We can't deny affordable medicine
to people because their disease or their health condition is not on the
approved list of the Canadian government."
Advocates also called on Canada to help poor countries develop their
own generic industries so they are not tied to Canadian imports
forever.
"Full support is needed for manufacturing capacity in the developing
world," said James Orbinski, former president of M�decins Sans
Fronti�res (Doctors Without Borders).
According to UN estimates, nearly 30 million Africans had HIV/AIDS
at the start of this year. Of the 4.1 million who could benefit from
treatment with antiretroviral drugs, between 25,000 and 50,000 are
receiving them.
Even if the Canadian initiative makes it easier to export cheap
generics, those dealing with the African AIDS crisis still must find the
money to pay for them.
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria has spent
about $1.5-billion (U.S.) on AIDS programs but efforts to raise a
further $3-billion are faltering.
Mr. Lewis has harshly criticized rich countries, which he says spend
600 times as much on defence as they do on AIDS in Africa every
year.
--
To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug
To contact a person, send a message to: e-drug-help@healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug