[Ip-health] AMTC Response to Chairperson of the inter-ministerial committee to consider Test Data Protection

[lawyers]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Hi

Please find below copy of the letter sent to Chairperson of thehigh level i=
nter-ministerial committee to consider the implementation of Article 39 (3)=
 of TRIPS Agreement.

Affordable Medicines and Traetment Campaign (AMTC)

March 9, 2004




To


Mr. Pradush Sinha

Secretary

Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals

Room No 501

A Wing, Sastri Bhavan

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road

New Delhi 110 001


Dear Mr. Sinha


Sub: (Committee on protection of undisclosed information under Article 39.3=
 of TRIPS Agreement)


Affordable Medicine and Treatment Campaign (AMTC) is a national campaign ai=
med at creating an environment that will ensure sustained accessibility and=
 affordability of medicines and treatment for every individual in India, in=
cluding access to affordable Anti-retroviral Therapy for persons living wit=
h HIV/AIDS. It consists of civil society organisations, NGOs, patients grou=
ps, healthcare providers and concerned individuals. The campaign was initia=
ted in 2001 with the following mission statement:


The right to life and health is a fundamental right guaranteed to every per=
son living in India and is non-negotiable. This campaign aims to demand and=
 create an environment that will ensure sustained accessibility and afforda=
bility of medicines and treatment for every individual in India, including =
access to affordable Anti-Retroviral Therapy for persons living with HIV/AI=
DS. This campaign shall be democratic and participatory. It will seek the m=
obilization of communities and civil society to make state, national and in=
ternational agencies and industry accountable for securing health for all.


We have learned that Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has set up =
a high level inter-ministerial committee to consider the implementation of =
Article 39 (3) of TRIPS Agreement. We are concerned about the protection te=
st data (data exclusivity) because such monopoly rights have serious implic=
ations on the accessibility and affordability of those drugs. We fear that =
data exclusivity may lead to patent type protection and thus undermine the =
right to access drugs, a prime component of right to health. We also notice=
d that there is no representation of civil society in the committee. We thi=
nk that civil society should be consulted and heard before finalising any d=
ecision on the question of data exclusivity because people at large, as an =
affected party, have a right to be consulted and heard. Hence, we would req=
uest you to give us an opportunity to place our views on the implementation=
 of Article 39 (3) along with other interested groups and individuals.


We would also like to know the names and address of the committee members a=
nd its terms of reference.


We look forward to hearing from you at the earliest.


With warm regards,


For AMTC

Anand Grover

Project Director, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit, Mumbai






--