South Africa Comments to WHA Executive Board on January 26, 1999

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

http://lists.essential.org/pharm-policy/msg00005.html

Excerpts from prepared comments of Peter Goosen, Charge d' Affairs 
at the South African Permanent Mission, before the World Health
Assembly (WHA) Executive Board, January 26, 1999, in support of the 
WHA Revised Drug Strategy, that will be voted on by the WHA in
May 1999.  


  [snip]

In an attempt to rationalise the use of our limited resources and to
thereby
extend the reach of our health services, we embarked upon a review of
our
drug policy in 1996. This review involved all stakeholders and was
executed
with technical assistance from the Drug Action Program, resulting in the
finalisation of appropriate legislation in October 1997.

This legislation addresses a range of issues to ensure all South
Africans
have access to safe and affordable medicines. The South African
legislation
streamlined registration and regulation procedures, ensured transparent
acquisition and pricing procedures, secure and efficient methods of
distribution, generic substitution, rational prescribing and dispensing.
In
addition to these accepted international norms, we have passed
legislation
to enable South Africa to parallel import pharmaceuticals and to allow
for
the issuing of non-exclusive compulsory licenses.

There have been subtle and not so subtle attempts to bring international
pressure to bear on the South African government in regard to this
legislation, and while we remain open to persuasion by rational
arguments,
our commitment to the underlying principles that underpin our
legislation is
unwavering.


Although this model legislation can not be enacted due to a legal
challenge
by vested interests - let me be very clear about the South African
government?s position.

The clauses in question provide an enabling legal framework for two
TRIP?s
compliant strategies aimed at making medicines more affordable namely:

        a.. As a signatory to the TRIPS agreement the South African
government respects patents and patent law as required by this agreement
        a.. The international exhaustion of patent rights is not
prohibited
by the TRIPS agreement and does not violate patent rights. Additionally
parallel importation is practised within the European Union and is
enshrined
in European law. The international exhaustion of other intellectual
property
rights is well established in jurisprudence in many countries.

        a.. Compulsory licensing for local production is permitted by
the
TRIPS agreement.
These strategies to ensure affordable medicines have also been presented
as
possible policy options in an official WHO publication, Globalisation
and
the Access to Drugs (WHO/DAP/98.9). These strategies were also validated
by
the contributions of the experts from WIPO and WTO during at the meeting
of
the Ad Hoc group. The official WHO publication, Globalisation and the
Access
to Drugs (WHO/DAP/98.9) is an invaluable resource for persons interested
in
pharmaceutical policy and indeed international health and trade policy.
We
understand that the concerns expressed by WTO have been addressed in a
revised document and we therefore look forward to receiving the revised
publication.

Mr. Chairman, it is our contention that this resolution on the revised
drug
strategy addresses certain crucial public health concerns in a clear and
unambiguous manner. It reaffirms the primacy of the public health
principles
on which this organisation was founded, thereby offering a small but
bright
beacon of hope in the uncertain and unpredictable globalized environment
of
the 21st century. This resolution is in fact a strengthened version of
the
original as now public health considerations are an issue, not only in
international trade agreements, but additionally in international
financial
agreements. It is WHO's clear role to protect public health needs at
these
international forums. As such the revised drug strategy document has the
support and endorsement of the South African Government.

  
   [snip]



-- 
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
I can be reached at love@cptech.org, by telephone 202.387.8030,
by fax at 202.234.5176. CPT web page is http://www.cptech.org