E-DRUG: New South African plans to slash medicine costs
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[copied as fair use from Cape Times, a SA newspaper; WB]
http://www.iol.co.za/news/sa_newsview.php3?click_id=13&art_id=ct19991
2 01233709222M32541&set_id=1
New plan to slash medicine costs
Parliament is to introduce measures to reduce the costs of medication
during its next sitting, Health Portfolio Committee chairperson Abe
Nkomo said on Wednesday.
It will be the second time the government has tackled this issue -
legislation introduced in 1996 remains tied up in a Constitutional
Court challenge by international drug companies.
"We have a responsibility to ensure that everyone in the country has
access to the necessary medication," said Nkomo. "We will do
everything in our power to achieve this."
The best way to achieve the price cuts, he said, was to obtain
generic versions of drugs that are still under patent in South
Africa.
A pharmacist said the difference between the prices of generics and
original drugs could be dramatic. For example, a refill for a
Ventolin inhaler, used to treat asthma, sells for about R50. The
generic version costs around R15.
The ulcer drug Zantac, which has come off patent, sells for about
R400. The generic version costs under R100.
The pharmacist, who may not be named for professional reasons, said
the threat of a generic entering the market was often enough to
reduce the price of the original.
"Take the anti-inflammatory Voltarin. As soon as generics were
available its price dropped by about half."
These generics are available because the original patent has expired.
The two vehicles for obtaining generics before the patent expires are
known as compulsory licensing and parallel importation.
Compulsory licensing allows the government, under certain conditions,
to issue a licence to a local manufacturer who can produce the drug
at a lower price.
Parallel importation involves buying the generic drug from countries
where the patent has expired, even if it is still active in South
Africa.
When the Medicines and Related Substances Amendment Act, which
includes provisions for parallel importation and compulsory
licensing, was introduced, it caused an uproar. Under pressure from
the pharmaceutical lobby, the US government threatened trade
sanctions. The South African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers'
Association (PMA) appealed to the Constitutional Court, saying the
government had violated their intellectual property rights.
But a few months ago US Vice-President Al Gore, under pressure from
Aids activists, promised to get affordable drugs to developing
countries. The PMA suspended its court case, but the legislation is in
limbo.
"We will explore all the options," said Nkomo at a World Aids Day
celebration in Parliament. "We might need to redraw some of the
clauses in the SA National Drug Regulatory Authorities Bill to include
this legislation. It might be that the PMA will withdraw the court
case after the US has changed its stance. We will have to see."
The government is hoping to lower the prices of all medications, but,
understandably, the focus has largely been on treatments for HIV and
Aids.
On World Aids Day on Wednesday there were repeated calls for the
government to provide drugs for pregnant women that halve the
likelihood of their children contracting the virus that causes Aids.
There were also calls for anti-Aids drugs to be given to women who
have been raped, and for treatments for Aids-related infections to be
available at all clinics.
"When the next session of Parliament starts we will begin to address
the cost of Aids drugs," said Speaker Frene Ginwala. "With a national
effort we can make them affordable."
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