E-drug: UK support for drug price reductions in developing countries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Copied as fair use. HH]
UK government supports measures to cut drug prices in developing
countries.
Susan Mayor , BMJ, 326:1056 (17 May 2003)
The UK government has given qualified support to measures that
could lift barriers to providing cheaper generic drugs in developing
countries, in a response announced last week to a report on
intellectual property.
The government agreed that intellectual property rights (such as
patents on drugs and manufacturing processes) "can and should be
tailored to take into account individual country's circumstances within
the framework of international agreements." However, it said that the
use of compulsory licensing - in which countries can import generic
drugs manufactured elsewhere - should be "sparing."
The suggestion failed to go as far as the Doha Declaration, which
was drawn up at a meeting of the World Trade Organization in Doha,
Qatar, last year (BMJ 2002;325:10). The meeting said that ways
should be agreed to ease the rules on patents so that drugs could be
provided to meet the health needs of people in poor countries.
Currently, a country that cannot afford to pay market prices for drugs
to treat conditions such as HIV/AIDS can issue a compulsory licence
requiring a patent owner to license another manufacturer to produce
generic versions.
The Doha Declaration affirmed that a member of the World Trade
Organization could give a compulsory licence to a domestic or foreign
manufacturer to manage a public health crisis. However, importing a
drug into a country where the drug is already under patent might
infringe that patent. This dilemma is still unresolved.
Mr Nathan Ford, adviser on access to medicines for Medecins Sans
Frontieres UK, said: "All the evidence shows that generic competition
is the fastest way to increase access to medicines. If the UK
government truly supported the Doha Declaration - which says that
countries should above all protect public health and ensure access to
medicines for all - then it would be urging countries to use compulsory
licensing whenever needed as fast as possible." He suggested that
the United Kingdom's response "would primarily please the
pharmaceutical industry."
The UK government was responding to a report of the Commission
on Intellectual Property Rights published in September 2002 (BMJ
2002;325:562). The commission was set up by the government in
April 2001 as part of wider efforts to ensure that global rules and
institutions serve all countries equitably and take full account of the
needs of developing countries.
The UK Government Response to the Report of the Commission on
Intellectual Property Rights "Integrating Intellectual Property Rights
and Development Policy" is accessible at www.dfid.gov.uk (or tel
01633 813538 for a copy).
--
To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug
To contact a person, send a message to: e-drug-help@healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug