[Ip-health] MSF Press Release: US Pressure Threatening Access to Medicines in Central America

[Rachel COHEN]

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Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)=0D
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For Immediate Release=0D
Kris Torgeson, +1-917-913-0183=0D
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US PRESSURE THREATENING ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN CENTRAL AMERICA=0D
CAFTA Negotiations Roll Back US Promises to Put Public Health Before=0D
Profits=0D
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New York, December 13, 2003 =E2=80=93 Five Central American countries are i=
n danger=0D
of losing access to affordable medicines if United States pressure prevails=
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in trade negotiations taking place in Washington, DC, this week, says the=
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international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without=0D
Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Although the draft text of the=0D
trade deal remains secret, it is clear from US negotiating positions and=0D
other regional agreements that proposals being discussed during this final=
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round of US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) meetings include=
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provisions for the protection of intellectual property that far exceed=0D
international norms set out by the World Trade Organization (WTO). These=0D
proposals also undermine the promises made by the US and all other WTO=0D
members two years ago when they adopted the Doha Declaration on the=0D
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and=
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Public Health, which unambiguously prioritized public health over the=0D
protection of intellectual property.=0D
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=E2=80=9CHIV/AIDS kills one person in Honduras every two hours because the =
vast=0D
majority of people with HIV/AIDS cannot afford life-saving AIDS medicines,=
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says Manuel Munoz, MD, who runs MSF=E2=80=99s AIDS treatment program in Hon=
duras.=0D
=E2=80=9CRight now, Honduras is not purchasing the least expensive generic=
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medicines which could allow it to provide AIDS drugs to every Hondurans who=
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are in urgent clinical need of antiretroviral therapy and will die without=
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it. It would not surprise me if the government were buying more expensive=
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medicines out of fear of US retaliation for buying generics. If CAFTA makes=
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intellectual property protection of pharmaceuticals even more stringent,=0D
lives will be lost.=E2=80=9D=0D
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As in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, MSF fears=0D
that the US is pushing for provisions in CAFTA that would curtail the=0D
ability of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to=
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take advantage of flexibilities existing in the WTO TRIPS Agreement and=0D
ensure generic competition=E2=80=94the only proven mechanism for achieving=
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sustained and systematic price reductions=E2=80=94for drugs needed to treat=
 all=0D
diseases that threaten the lives of people in Central America. One such=0D
provision, referred to as =E2=80=9Cdata exclusivity,=E2=80=9D would create =
a new=0D
patent-like barrier to access to medicines, even when a medicine is not=0D
protected by a patent. Data exclusivity prevents drug regulatory=0D
authorities (DRAs) from authorizing the use of generic medicines for a=0D
certain period, thereby giving a de facto market monopoly to original=0D
manufacturers. The pharmaceutical industry has been pushing hard to obtain=
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five years of data exclusivity on newly registered drugs. There is no=0D
obligation in the TRIPS Agreement to provide this protection, but the US=0D
now considers this a negotiating priority.=0D
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In 2003, the Guatemalan government modified its national intellectual=0D
property bill to provide five years of data exclusivity on drugs registered=
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for use in the country. This means an automatic five-year delay in the=0D
availability of generic medicines in Guatemala, even though the majority of=
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antiretrovirals medicines are not under patent there. For the 67,000=0D
Guatemalans currently living with HIV/AIDS, five years without access to=0D
treatment can mean the difference between life and death. Guatemala is=0D
currently the only country in Central America that gives five years of data=
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exclusivity on drugs, but MSF is deeply concerned that CAFTA threatens to=
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extend such a provision to the rest of the region.=0D
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=E2=80=9CIf the US and other CAFTA countries trade away health they will ha=
ve=0D
abandoned their responsibility to protect public health and promote access=
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to medicines for all,=E2=80=9D said Rachel Cohen, US Director of MSF=E2=80=
=99s Campaign for=0D
Access to Essential Medicines. =E2=80=9CPeople with HIV/AIDS and other illn=
esses=0D
will be the ones that will pay the price.=E2=80=9D=0D
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MSF currently has projects in three of the five CAFTA countries=E2=80=94Hon=
duras,=0D
Guatemala, and Nicaragua=E2=80=94providing medical care for people living w=
ith=0D
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), people with=0D
Chagas=E2=80=99 disease, and displaced and homeless populations, including =
street=0D
children, and indigenous people.=0D
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Rachel M. Cohen=0D
U.S. Director, Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines=0D
Doctors Without Borders/M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res (MSF)=0D
333 Seventh Avenue, 2nd Floor * New York, NY * 10001-5004 * USA=0D
Tel: +1-212-655-3762=0D
Mobile: +1-917-331-9077=0D
Fax: +1-212-679-7016=0D
E-mail: rachel.cohen@newyork.msf.org=0D
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http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/=0D
http://www.accessmed-msf.org/=0D
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* * URGENT * *=0D
Please visit http://www.msf.org/arjan/petition/usa.htm and sign MSF's=0D
petition calling for the release of our colleague Arjan Erkel who was=0D
kidnapped in August 2002 in Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation.=
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Thank you!=0D
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