[Ip-health] FTA Moratorium

[B.Baker@neu.edu]

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=C2=A0 AIDS activists seek truce in US 'pharma war'=0D
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Friday =E2=80=A2 August 18, 2006=0D
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Activists demanded a truce in what they branded a US "pharma war" on AIDS=
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patients as well as a moratorium on US free-trade deals that, they say,=0D
thwart local production of cheap, life-saving HIV drugs.=0D
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Opponents say US free-trade pacts include "wish lists," drawn up by US=0D
pharmaceutical companies, providing stiff patent protections for their=0D
drugs.=0D
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More than 45 organizations at the 16th International AIDS Conference signed=
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a demand for a moratorium on these bilateral pacts, warning a fresh crisis=
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was looming in providing new-generation antiretroviral drugs to the=0D
developing world.=0D
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"It is time to call a ceasefire in the war for higher intellectual property=
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rights," said Brook Baker, a lawyer at North Eastern University in Boston=
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and analyst for the non-governmental organisation Health Gap.=0D
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Baker argued that US drives for trade deals included language that=0D
protected US patent rights by barring local firms from making copies, or=0D
generics, of pharmaceutical molecules patented by US firms.=0D
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"If the world can collaborate to call a ceasefire in Lebanon, a war that=0D
has been killing dozens a day, the world should be able to call a ceasefire=
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in the Pharma US war for increased intellectual property rights," he said.=
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US negotiators continue to press for deals with nations including Malaysia=
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and South Korea. An attempt to conclude a trade pact with Thailand has=0D
sparked protest among Thai activists who say it will make vital AIDS drugs=
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too expensive.=0D
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"To confront the AIDS pandemic, countries need access to affordable=0D
medicines," said Oxfam activist Mohga Kamal-Yanni.=0D
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"The US must stop demanding new intellectual property rules in trade=0D
agreements."=0D
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The World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreed on August 30, 2003 that poor=0D
countries stricken by AIDS or other mortal epidemics can issue compulsory=
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licences entitling domestic firms to copy a foreign-patented drug.=0D
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But the moratorium demand, which included signatories Medecins Sans=0D
Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF), Oxfam and UN envoy for HIV/AIDS=
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Stephen Lewis, complained that "current WTO intellectual property rules are=
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already making it difficult for countries to access affordable medicines."=
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It also warned new trade pacts were even more harmful to the local=0D
manufacture of generic drugs than the 1994 Trade Related Aspects of=0D
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) document.=0D
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Anan Grover, a legal activist involved in the anti-AIDS fight in India,=0D
warned patent issues could put second-line antiretroviral drugs -- which=0D
some patients need if their bodies reject original doses -- could be put=0D
out of reach for many patients.=0D
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"Within five years there will be a major crisis. The number of people that=
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are going to be requiring second-line drugs is going to increase."=0D
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But Peter Piot, director of the agency UNAIDS told AFP in an interview here=
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this week that he did not expect a showdown with big pharmaceutical=0D
companies like the one that erupted over the first-round of generic AIDS=0D
drugs.=0D
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"It was pure confrontation at the beginning. Now we have established a=0D
contact. Big pharma has learned the lessons the hard way," he said.=0D
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"We also need innovation, fourth-generation, fifth-generation drugs, and=0D
only big pharma can make that."=0D
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There was no immediate comment from the Office of the United States Trade=
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Representative in Washington. =E2=80=94 AFP