[Ip-health] Oxfam- MSF Joint letter to Commissioner Mandelson on Thailand CL issue

[Alexandra HEUMBER]

[ Converted text/html to text/plain ]
Dear all,
Please find below the letter that Oxfam and MSF sent to the European
Commissioner of Trade Peter Mandelson today August 27, 2007, following a
letter he sent on July 18, 2007, to the government of Thailand in which he
challenged the Thai policy of issuing compulsory licences on medicines.


We urge the European Commission to adopt a policy of supporting countries i=
n
their efforts to ensure access to medicines for their citizens and request
that the EC take no further action to pressure Thailand, or other developin=
g
countries, that use these safeguards to protect the health of their
population.

Alexandra (Heumber MSF)



Peter Mandelson

EU Trade Commissioner

200 rue de la Loi
B-1049 - Belgium

Fax : +32-2-298 86 57



                                          27th August 2007





Dear Commissioner Mandelson,



Oxfam International and M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res (MSF) are very concern=
ed at
the European Commission?s recent correspondence with the Thai Minister of
Commerce discouraging the further use of compulsory licensing for patented
medicines.



We believe that the European Commission?s efforts should be re-directed
towards providing support to developing countries that use TRIPS safeguards=
 in
order to provide access to life-saving medicines for their citizens. We cal=
l
your attention to European Parliament Resolution of 12th July 2007, which
?asks the Council to support the developing countries which use the so-call=
ed
flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement and recognized by the Doha
Declaration in order to be able to provide essential medicines at affordabl=
e
prices under their domestic public health programmes?. We are surprised tha=
t
your intervention made in the name of the European Union comes at the very
moment the European Parliament is requesting the Council and Commission to
find ways to solve issues around access to medicines.



Your recommendation to Thailand to engage in direct discussions with patent
holders in lieu of issuing government-use licenses blatantly ignores basic
public health safeguards incorporated into the World Trade Organization TRI=
PS
Agreement and reaffirmed in the Doha Declaration, which you pledge to suppo=
rt.
These include the right of governments to issue government-use licenses und=
er
Article 31(b) without prior negotiation with a patent holder.



Your letter also suggests that issuing compulsory licenses is ?detrimental =
to
the patent system and so, to innovation and the development of new medicine=
s?.
Such an assertion is contradicted by evidence released by the World Health
Organization?s CIPIH report.[1][1] The report shows that, even with increas=
ed
patent protection in developing countries, desperately needed innovation fo=
r
diseases that primarily affect people in developing countries has not
increased.



Finally, your assertion that the Thai Government is applying a new systemat=
ic
policy of applying compulsory licenses wherever a drug is priced more than =
5%
higher than the lowest generic price is mistaken. It is in fact a
misinterpretation of a credit points system that Thailand has chosen to app=
ly
for the three medicines procured under compulsory license, and is not one o=
f
the criteria used for deciding in favour of issuing a license.



We welcome countries? use of the compulsory license mechanism in the name o=
f
increasing access to medicines to protect the public health of their citize=
ns,
and support their right to determine how best to increase access to medicin=
es
they consider essential.



We urge the European Commission to adopt a policy of supporting countries i=
n
their efforts to ensure access to medicines for their citizens and request
that the EC take no further action to pressure Thailand, or other developin=
g
countries, that use these safeguards to protect the health of their
population.



Yours sincerely,



Duncan Pruett                                                   Dr Tido von
Schoen-Angerer

Acting Head                                                     Executive
Director

Make Trade Fair Campaign             MSF Campaign for Access

Oxfam International                                      to Essential
Medicines



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[1][2] WHO: Public Health, innovation and intellectual property rights. Rep=
ort
by the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public
Health, 2006.


Alexandra Heumber
EU Advocacy Liaison Officer
M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign
Rue Dupr=E9, 94. 1090 Brussels
++32 (0) 2 474 75 09 (Dir off)
++ 32 (0) 479 514 900 (Mob)
++ 32 (0) 2 474 75 75 (Fax)



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