[Ip-health] Toronto Star: 'Drugs for Africa' Bill Amended

[Justin Noble]

'Drugs for Africa' bill amended
Ottawa removes advantage for brand-name firms
Rock star Bono pleased with move, sources say


SUSAN DELACOURT
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF

OTTAWA=97The Liberal government is removing a much-criticized advantage
for the big, brand-name drug firms in a major change to a bill to get
HIV/AIDS drugs to poor nations.

Irish rock star Bono, who vowed to be an international thorn in the
government's side in the campaign to supply drugs to impoverished AIDS
sufferers, spoke to Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday to convey his
approval for the turnaround, sources said.

In the amendments to be formally put before Parliament today, the
government has backed away from a provision that would basically have
given the more expensive, patent-drug manufacturers the first right to
supply AIDS drugs to developing countries.

This so-called "right of refusal" clause meant that it would have been
difficult for the manufacturers of less expensive, generic drugs to be
the suppliers of much-needed AIDS drugs to nations that cannot afford
them.

Patent holders would have been allowed 30 days to match and seize any
drug-supply contracts set up between generic firms and poor countries
looking to obtain HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals.

The generic companies say the existing provision removes the incentives
for them to negotiate contracts.

It's estimated that 30 million of the world's 45 million AIDS sufferers
live in Africa. Many are dying because they do not have access to the
drugs developed to help stem the epidemic.

Martin had once described this legislation as one of the top priorities
of his new government, even naming it after his predecessor Jean
Chr=E9tien, in recognition of all of his interest in helping Africa.

That was before the sponsorship scandal reawakened the rivalry between
them and appeared to overwhelm even the smallest of initiatives in
Martin's new government.


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`Governments have been known to do the right thing from time to time
and this is one of those times, I guess.'

Richard Elliott, HIV/AIDS Legal Network

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The bill, known also as C-9, has appeared to be mired in procedural
limbo in the Commons since it was introduced with much fanfare in
happier times for Martin's government.

Stephen Lewis, the United Nations envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, has
been speaking out strongly against the right-of-refusal provision,
arguing that Canada =97 as the first country to bring in this kind of
legislation =97 has a global responsibility to set a strong example for
others that may soon follow suit.

Norway, for instance, is working on a similar law, and several European
nations are said to be watching Canada closely to see how this effort
could work.

Canadian advocates of the "Drugs for Africa" plan had also been
sounding alarms about the right-of-refusal provision, but today, they
will be holding a press conference in Ottawa to give measured praise
for the Martin government's fundamental rethinking of the bill.

"Governments have been known to do the right thing from time to time
and this is one of those times, I guess," said Richard Elliott of the
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, who worked closely with the government
to win the changes. But Elliott says the new version of the bill hasn't
entirely levelled the field between patent and generic drug firms.

In an apparent exchange for removing the right-of-refusal provision,
the government is setting strict limits over the price and profit in
any generic-drug contracts.

"We'd like to see that gone, too, before this bill is passed," Elliott
says.

The legislationnow goes to a Commons committee, where it will be
studied, and where further amendments could be put forward by the
opposition.

Last month, the DATA (Debts, AIDS, Trade, Africa) relief group founded
by Bono wrote personally to Martin to protest the way his government
had drafted the bill.

"Giving patent holders a `right of first refusal' or `equal
opportunity' and restricting what products are eligible sets a poor
precedent for the world after so much promise from Canada," the letter
said. It warned it "would undermine the very purpose of the law, which
is to get affordable medicines to the 14 million people who die every
day from treatable diseases."

Although some contracts may be at low prices, the access to a growing
market could be attractive for brand-name firms. After exchanging
messages for a few days, government sources said Bono spoke to Martin
yesterdayto register his pleasure over the development.