E-drug: Joint press statement on Doha outcome
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Joint statement: M�decins Sans Fronti�res, OXFAM, Third World
Network, Consumer Project on Technology, Consumers
International, Health Action International and The Network
Green Light to Put Public Health First at WTO Ministerial
Conference in Doha
14 November, Doha, Qatar
The one hundred and forty two countries meeting at the 4th WTO
ministerial conference in Doha clearly affirmed that governments
are free to take all necessary measures to protect public health.
Now, if drug companies price drugs beyond the reach of people who
need them, governments can override patents without the threat of
retribution.
"The huge profile given to the issue changes the political climate,
building on the victories in the South Africa and Brazil cases," said
Michael Bailey of Oxfam. "We would have liked to see stronger
wording, but the declaration does have a clear political statement
that public health concerns must override commercial interests."
"Countries can ensure access to medicines without fear of being
dragged into a legal battle," said Ellen 't Hoen of M�decins Sans
Fronti�res. "Now it is up to governments to use these powers to
Bring down the cost of medicines and increase access to life-saving
treatments."
A declaration on TRIPS and public health adopted today clearly
recognized the potentially lethal side-effects of the TRIPS
agreement and gave teeth to the measures that countries can use
to counteract them. These measures include the right to grant
compulsory licenses (overriding patents) and the freedom to
determine the grounds upon which such licenses are granted. The
Doha declaration acknowledged that these options are not limited to
emergency situations. However, if countries do declare an
emergency, they can issue compulsory licenses without prior
negotiation with the patent owner. It is countries themselves that
determine what constitutes an emergency situation.
The declaration also leaves countries the freedom to decide on their
own rules for implementing parallel imports. Parallel importation
allows a country to shop around for the best price of a branded drug
on the global market. In addition, least developed countries (LDCs)
were given a 10 year extension to comply with TRIPS - this means
that the deadline for compliance is now 2016 for LDCs, at the
earliest.
The Doha declaration is a road map for using the flexibilities of the
TRIPS Agreement to protect public health", said James Love of
Consumer Project on Technology. "It sets the standards to measure
any bilateral or regional trade agreement."
"Doha is a major advance in rebalancing the TRIPS Agreement.
The next step is to ensure that next year's scheduled review of
TRIPS takes a hard look at what kind of patenting is really suitable
for developing countries", said Cecilia Oh of the Third World
Network.
The biggest disappointment is that the meeting failed to resolve the
issue of where countries with insufficient or no manufacturing
capacity for pharmaceuticals will obtain drugs under a compulsory
license. The developing countries asked the WTO to authorize the
export of medicines under article 30 of the TRIPS (limited
exceptions), but the WTO ministerial conference has deferred the
issue to the TRIPS Council, which is instructed to find a solution
before the end of 2002.
Contacts:
Daniel Berman (+ 41 79 286 9649), Ellen 't Hoen (5391780 or
+ 33 6 223 75871) M�decins Sans Fronti�res
Cecilia Oh, Third World Network + 60 12 485 1951
Jamie love, Consumer Project on Technology 539 2726 or
+ 1 202 361 3040
Zafar Mirza, Health Action International/The Network +947 411996
Michael Bailey, OXFAM + 44 79 681 96102 or + 44 77 643 49967
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