E-DRUG: MSF response to 3x5 progress report
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As WHO and UNAIDS Call for Global Treatment Scale-up, MSF Asks: Where Will the Essential Drugs Come From ?
Geneva, Tuesday March 28, 2006 As the World Health Organization (WHO) and
UNAIDS release a long-awaited report on their 3x5 AIDS treatment initiative
and call for universal access, the medical humanitarian organization
Médecins Sans Frontières is expressing concern that not enough is being
done to make sure that the drugs needed to expand and sustain treatment are
accessible to those who need them.
WHO and donors alike are ignoring the looming threat to access to
affordable essential medicines that form one of the key barriers to global
treatment scale-up. Growing numbers of people that have been on AIDS
treatment for several years will increasingly need access to newer,
second-generation medicines that remain priced out of reach or are not
available at all.
We wont be able to keep our patients alive beyond the first few years
unless there are some dramatic price reductions for second-line drugs,
said Dr. Karim Laouabdia, Director of MSFs Campaign for Access to
Essential Medicines. Patients will inevitably need second-line drugs after
a few years on treatment, because resistance develops, even when every
single pill is taken according to the treatment plan.
At the same time, World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on patents are
threatening to dry up sources of low-cost generic versions, including some
of the first-generation drugs. Without a reliable supply of low cost AIDS
drugs, national governments and treatment providers will be faced with an
uphill battle, and patients risk having vital treatment interrupted or
priced out of their reach.
It was generic competition and the absence of patents on first generation
AIDS drugs in key producing countries that forced prices to drop
drastically over the early part of the decade, helping expand treatment,
said Ellen t Hoen, Director for Policy and Advocacy at MSFs Campaign for
Access to Essential Medicines. But we are loosing ground again. What
were witnessing now are patent regimes that threaten to block access to
both first and second-line drugs. Its a cruel case of déjà-vu, to which
the WHO seems to be blind, she added.
Indian manufacturers are the source of 84% of antiretrovirals MSF uses in
its AIDS treatment projects across the globe. Last year, India changed its
patent law to comply with the WTO TRIPS Agreement, and three weeks ago,
India granted its first ever patent on a drug. MSF is deeply concerned
that this will set a precedent, threatening access to other essential
medicines including antiretrovirals, patents to some of which are being
considered by the Indian patent office right now.
Pharmaceutical companies are faster in filing patents in developing
countries than in delivering the drugs. As an example, Abbott Laboratories
only sells in the US a new version of the WHO recommended second-line AIDS
drug (lopinavir/ritonavir) that is particularly suited for use in
developing countries because it does not need refrigeration. MSF placed an
order for the drug with the companys headquarters in Chicago, but so far,
Abbott has refused to proceed with filling the order, and there are no
alternative sources for this product today.
MSF warns that if there is no concerted effort by the UN and the
international community to make sure there is a steady supply of low-cost
AIDS drugs, attaining the goal of universal access will remain impossible.
Sheila Shettle
Communications Officer
Médecins Sans Frontières
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Rue de Lausanne 78
1211 Geneva
Switzerland
+ 41.22.849.8403
sheila.shettle@geneva.msf.org
www.accessmed-msf.org