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Initiative De: "UNITAID Medicines Patent Pool Initiative"
<utdmppi@gmail.com> Date: Mer 23 septembre 2009 12:33
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E-DRUG: The Lancet - UK MPs support the UNITAID Patent Pool Initiative
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Dear All,
Please find below a Lancet article on the UK MPs All Party Parliamentary
Group on AIDS (APPG) report on long-term access to HIV medicines in the
developing world, supporting the UNITAID Patent Pool Initiative.
Volume 9, Issue 10 (October 2009) of The Lancet Infectious Diseases can be
found here:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/vol9no10/PIIS1473-3099(09)X7010-6
The full text of the below article can be found here:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(09)70244-0/fulltext
The APPG full report, The Treatment Timebomb can be found here:
http://www.aidsportal.org/repos/APPGTimebomb091.pdf
The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 9, Issue
10<http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/vol9no10/PIIS1473-3099(09)X7010-6>,
Page 593, October 2009
Urgent action needed to defuse HIV treatment timebomb
Original Text
[Copied as fair use]
Kelly
Morris<http://www.thelancet.com/search/results?fieldName=Authors&searchTerm=Kelly+Morris>
1 year before the G8 target of universal access to antiretrovirals (ARVs),
only a third of those in need are receiving medication. With the HIV
pandemic continuing to spread dramatically, an inquiry by the UK all-party
parliamentary group on AIDS shows that
we are sitting on a treatment timebomb. Action is needed now,
to avert crisis later, says the report, which predicts that over 50
million people worldwide could need ARVs by 2030.
The International AIDS Society has applauded The Treatment Timebomb
report. Society president Julio Montaner explains that suppression of
viral load reduces transmission rates of both HIV and tuberculosis to the
wider community. The more you treat, the more lives are saved, the more
families are protected, the more people can go back to work, he says.
But, universal access to ARVs is not just the humanitarian, ethical, or
cost-effective thing to do, he continues. It is cost-averting, and
vital especially in times of fiscal crisis. Most importantly, he stresses,
universal ARV coverage is an essential part of the solution to control and
reduce the spread of HIV, which is a millenium development goal for 2015.
The UK International Development Minister Mike Foster told TLID that we
must think ahead when it comes to HIV treatment. The number of people
needing treatment, and more complex and expensive treatments, will
continue to rise. The price of those treatments is an issue now, and will
only grow bigger in the future. The report notes that, in some countries,
access to therapies to prevent vertical transmission is particularly poor,
whereas treatment for adults and children is often started late on the
basis of symptoms, because of the lack of CD4 count testing. Revised WHO
guidelines due to be released later this year are expected to raise the
CD4 count at which to begin treatment, which will mean more people will be
immediately eligible for ARVs. Effective treatment will increase lifespan,
and thus more people will need drugs for longer, but effective treatment
is a key part of the strategy to eliminate HIV, says Montaner. We need to
get policy makers to understand this, he urges.
The UK all-party parliamentary group is calling for immediate action and
long-term plans by countries and donors, including secure financial
commitments to ensure continued ARV supplies and bulk ordering to reduce
costs. Stakeholders need to work together to decide the optimum balance of
spending between treatment and other prevention efforts, the report
recommends. Cheap CD4 tests are also urgently needed to guide treatment.
Poor adherence, interrupted drug supplies, and counterfeit drugs increase
the likelihood of resistance, which necessitates newer ARV regimens.
Notably, adherence and cost-savings can be substantially improved by use
of generic fixed-dose combinations. However, the World Trade Organization
is tightening rules on patenting and so reducing new generic drug
production.
Foster points out that the UK Department for International Development is
working with manufacturers to lower the price of drugs, and supports the
initiative by UNITAID to develop an ARV patent pool. In principle,
companies will pool their patents, which are then available for
licenseeg, to generic manufacturersin return for a royalty payment.
Voluntary licensing schemes already exist but via individual companies,
whereas the UNITAID patent pool would be a one stop shop. Ellen 't Hoen,
UNITAID, Geneva, Switzerland advises that the patent pool will overcome
many obstacles, especially to rapidly produce new fixed-dose combinations
and urgently needed paediatric formulations. Unless such an approach is
taken, generic drug companies cannot continue to produce new innovative
products for developing countries, she warns.
UNITAID is talking to major stakeholdersfrom patent holders to potential
licenseesand hopes to have the patent pool established by the end of the
year. Everyone recognises that something needs to be done, but although
some parties are very positive others are more hesitant, says 't Hoen.
However, it's an unbelievable opportunity to get something right and will
become increasingly important for the future, she says.
The Treatment Timebomb concludes with a call for political activism, but
noting that all parties must be involved and pharmaceutical companies need
not be cast as the enemy. What is needed most now is political leadership,
says Veronica Oakeshott, the parliamentary group's policy advisor.
Montaner points out that at the 2005 G8, the UK played a key part in
developing the universal access goal for ARVs. But, current G8 head
Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, is not prioritising HIV at
the summit. People of the G8 countries need to know that we are walking
away from promises, says Montaner. He is urging the UK government to use
the report to demand that action on HIV be put at the top of the agenda
for the 2010 G8 summit. The consequences of not doing so will be
devastating for us and for generations to come.
UNITAID - Medicines Patent Pool Initiative
20 Avenue Appia // 1211 Geneva 27 // Switzerland
Tel +41 22 791 3778 // Fax +41 22 791 4890
utdmppi@gmail.com // borolim@who.int // www.unitaid.eu
What is a Patent Pool?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj0dbFgjoh4