E-drug: Thailand and TRIPS - info. for campaign
----------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
Thailand is again under pressure from the US government regarding its
compulsory licensing agreement particularly of patented drugs. The US
government is putting pressure on our government to cancel its authority for
compulsory licensing of pharmaceuticals in exchange for lower tariffs on
Thailand�s jewellery and wood products exported to US. In this trade
exchange, Thailand would be at a very disadvantaged position where
competitive and lower drug prices for the general people will be at stake.
We at NGOs are particularly concerned with the many adverse effects, direct
and indirect, it would cause notedly to people with HIV/AIDS (PHA) whose
medication costs alone are very expensive. These people are solely dependent
on very expensive drugs for treatment and if this compulsory licensing will be
cancelled or suspended, more high-priced drugs are eventually expected.
Four drugs were identified as being of particular concern to people with HIV.
Three are antifungal drugs for the treatment of Cryptococcal Meningitis:
Fluconazole (Diflucan Pfizer), Itraconazole (Sporal Janssen) and
Amphotericin B (Fungizone BMS) and one antiretroviral drug: ddI (Videx BMS),
used to combat the HIV virus.
The antifungal drugs were included because Cryptococcal Meningitis affects
15% to 20% of PHA in Thailand and has disastrous consequences if left untreated.
The anti-retroviral drug (ddI) was included because of its high price and the
fact that research and development costs were funded by the US government
(public funds) and not by the drug manufacturer, also the US government gave
its patent right to produce ddI solely and exclusively to Bristol-Myers Squibb
(BMS) which markets ddI under the trade name Virex, a complete market monopoly
of the drug by BMS.
Our coalition developed plans of action, the first step of which will be to
collect further information that includes:
� The price of these drugs both inside and outside the S.E.Asian region.
� The availability of alternative drugs or generics with the price and country
of origin (it is doubtful if these exist ??? India).
� Where the drug was first produced and who funded research and development
costs.
� Collection of data about cases and results of lack of access to these
drugs.
Our coalition would be so grateful to receive any of the information mentioned
that you could provide us with for our campaign and would be glad to receive
them via Internet or via post:
1. ACCESS
2. Thai NGO Coalition on AIDS (TNCA)
3. Thai Business Coalition on AIDS (TBCA)
4. Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF)
5. Foundation for Consumers
C/O Ms. Saree Aongsomwang
Foundation for Consumers 211/2 Soi Thanakarn
Akarnsongkro 3
Ngamwongwan Road
Nonthaburi 11000, THAILAND
E-mail: saree@health.moph.go.th�� Tel./Fax Nos. (662) 952-5060 to 2
Thanking you in anticipation!
Sincerely,
Ms. Saree Aongsomwang
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.