E-DRUG: Sell-out at WTO on Doha declaration?
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[E-druggers will probably suffer from doha-article 6-fatigue, but this is
important. The WTO Tokyo meeting could make or break a bad deal for
developing countries. The chair's proposal will basically divide the world
into 2 camps: the rich and those who can produce drugs for all diseases,
and the (bigger) group of developing countries that will only get access to
imported drugs under a compulsory license for "national emergencies or
other circumstances of extreme urgency". Do try to lobby your government to
stop this bad deal. WB]
MSF PRESS STATEMENT
Sell-out at WTO on Doha declaration?
Geneva, 12 February 03. In ongoing negotiations in Tokyo this week, the WTO
is discussing a deal that could severely limit developing countries' access
to affordable medicines. M�decins Sans Fronti�res strongly urges WTO
members to reject the latest proposal by the chair of the TRIPS Council to
restrict use of compulsory licensing for many developing countries to
"national emergencies or other circumstances of extreme urgency". Wealthy
countries do not have to declare national emergencies to make use of TRIPS
safeguards. Why should developing countries have to do so?
"In Africa, pneumonia is the second biggest killer after HIV/AIDS," says Dr
Bernard P�coul, director of the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.
"Will countries declare pneumonia a national emergency? It is hard to
imagine. If they do, will they also declare emergencies for diarrhoeal
diseases?"
The adoption of the TRIPS Council chairman's proposal would mean that
countries without the possibility to produce medicines are at a major
disadvantage over countries that do have the capacity. In theory, they
could issue a compulsory licence to address any public health problem; but
in practice, they will only be able to get supplies of the medicines if
they declare a national emergency. These countries would have to wait for a
public health problem to spin out of control before they can use this
solution to address it.
Already during the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and
Public Health, developing countries resisted strong pressure to have
compulsory licensing provisions limited to emergency situations. Giving in
to this emergency language now would be a massive blow to the progress
painstakingly achieved over many years.
MSF strongly urges all WTO members to reject the Chairman's reference to
emergencies and any other attempt to limit the terms of the agreement.
"Throughout negotiations last year, the US tried to limit the agreement to
a set list of diseases" explains Ellen 't Hoen, M�decins Sans Fronti�res.
"This was unacceptable, and developing countries rightly rejected the
notion. But this current bid by the TRIPS Council chairman to restrict the
agreement to national emergencies would in fact be far worse. We cannot let
a handful of WTO members yield to industry pressure and cripple developing
countries' access to life-saving medicines."