E-DRUG: MSF writes Indian president on patents & medicines
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Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhawan
New Delhi 110 004
India
Fax : +91-112301 1689/7290/7824
Geneva, February 22nd 2005
Your Excellency,
We understand that amendments to the Patent Act of 1970 of India will be
discussed in Parliament in the coming weeks. As a humanitarian organisation
providing medical assistance and relief in nearly 80 countries around the
world, Midecins Sans Frontihres is writing to ask for your support to
ensure that patients in developing countries will continue to have access
to affordable medicines.
India has played a pivotal role in supplying affordable generic versions of
drugs used throughout the developing world. It has also been a leader in
the debates at the World Trade Organization on the Agreement on
Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and its effects on
Public Health.
Of the 700,000 people who currently receive antiretroviral treatment in the
developing world, 50% receive Indian generic medicines. Today, MSF treats
25,000 people with antiretrovirals in 27 countries around the world, and
70% of our patients use medicines that originate in India. The availability
of fixed-dose combination therapy (or three-in-one pills) has
revolutionised AIDS treatment, a fact we have witnessed first hand in our
own programmes. Providing this user-friendly form of treatment has only
been possible because there are no patent constraints in India on putting
these medicines together in one tablet.
MSF has examined the proposed amendments to the Patents Act of 1970. We
believe they will drastically restrict, perhaps even prevent, the
production and supply of this vital therapy by Indian pharmaceutical
companies to other developing countries.
India is the major manufacturer and supplier of affordable generic
medicines. We strongly urge you to ensure that Indias compliance with the
WTO agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights will
ensure maximum flexibility in the Indian patent law and policies for the
benefit of patients in India and globally.
We hope that India will continue to demonstrate the kind of international
leadership it has shown with the WTO Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public
Health. We appeal to you that any amendments to the law will safeguard not
only the citizens of India, but also the millions of children, women and
men in the developing world whose lives depend on access to affordable
generic medicines.
Yours sincerely,
Rowan Gillies, M.B.B.S.
President
International Council of Midecins Sans Frontihres
Geneva, Switzerland
Karim Laouabdia-Sellami, MD, MPH
Director
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines
Midecins Sans Frontihres
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0) 22 849 84 06
Fax: + 41 (0) 22 849 84 04
klaouabdia@msf.org
c.c. The Honorable Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
c.c. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, National Advisory Council
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