[Ip-health] MSF, Oxfam: Former Swiss President joins Call for Novartis to Drop its Case in India

[Sheila.SHETTLE@geneva.msf.org]

Former Swiss President Joins Call for Novartis to Drop its Case in India=0D
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Geneva, 15 February 2007 =E2=80=93 Former President of the Swiss Confederat=
ion Ruth=0D
Dreifuss voiced her concern today about the impact Swiss pharmaceutical=0D
company Novartis=E2=80=99 legal challenge against the Indian government cou=
ld have=0D
on access to essential medicines across the globe.  She joins over 300,000=
=0D
people worldwide =E2=80=93 including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN Spe=
cial=0D
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, and Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, the=
=0D
new head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria =E2=80=
=93 in=0D
calling upon the company to drop the case.=0D
=0D
The Berne Declaration, Oxfam International and the international medical=0D
humanitarian organization M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res (MSF), emphasi=
zed that=0D
Novartis is challenging countries=E2=80=99 rights to have patent laws that =
put the=0D
interest of people first.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CThe Doha Declaration tries to find a balance between intellectual =
property=0D
rights and public health,=E2=80=9D said Ruth Dreifuss, who chaired the 2004=
-2006=0D
WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public=0D
Health (CIPIH). =E2=80=9CThis balance can be achieved only if countries mak=
e use of=0D
the flexibilities contained in the TRIPS Agreement, and this is what the=0D
Indian law does. By challenging it, Novartis is sacrificing public health=
=0D
objectives and weakening the whole system.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Many developing countries rely on affordable medicines produced in India,=
=0D
and such medicines constitute over half the AIDS drugs used in the=0D
developing world.  India has been able to produce affordable versions of=0D
medicines patented elsewhere because until 2005, the country did not grant=
=0D
pharmaceutical patents.  Over 80% of the 80,000 patients in MSF=E2=80=99s A=
IDS=0D
treatment programmes receive Indian generics.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CWe are increasingly seeing the tools we need to treat people being=
 taken=0D
out of our hands,=E2=80=9D said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of MS=
F=E2=80=99s=0D
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.  =E2=80=9CWe are unable to affo=
rd the=0D
new medicines we need and not enough is being developed for the diseases=0D
that mainly affect people in developing countries.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Because of the global implications of Novartis=E2=80=99 legal action in Ind=
ia,=0D
Swiss organizations, led by the Berne Declaration, urged the company to=0D
drop its case in an open letter to Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella sent in=0D
October 2006.  The letter was endorsed by over two-dozen Swiss health NGOs=
=0D
including the Swiss Cancer League and Swiss AIDS Federation, as well as=0D
Swiss opinion makers, including Ruth Dreifuss.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CIt is not acceptable that in order to sell its medicines at high p=
rice to=0D
a minority of wealthy patients in India and in other developing countries,=
=0D
Novartis is ready to worsen access to affordable essential and life-saving=
=0D
medicines for people in developing countries,=E2=80=9D said Julien Reinhard=
, Health=0D
Campaign Director at the Berne Declaration.  =E2=80=9CThis behaviour is not=
=0D
socially responsible. It's time for Novartis to act responsibly and drop=0D
its case in India.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
Novartis is challenging a specific provision in India=E2=80=99s patent law =
that=0D
lays out strict criteria for granting patents. If the provision were=0D
overturned, patents would be granted far more widely in India, heavily=0D
restricting the production of affordable medicines that has become crucial=
=0D
to the treatment of diseases across the developing world.  There are an=0D
estimated 9,000 patent applications waiting to be reviewed by Indian=0D
authorities of which most are believed to be modifications of old drugs. If=
=0D
India is made to change its law, many of these medicines could become=0D
patented, making them off-limits to the generic competition that has proven=
=0D
to bring prices down.=0D
=0D
=E2=80=9CNovartis claims it is simply trying to protect its intellectual pr=
operty=0D
over a single drug. But the truth is this is a direct attack against=0D
India=E2=80=99s sovereign right to protect public health,=E2=80=9D said Cel=
ine Charveriat,=0D
head of Oxfam=E2=80=99s Make Trade Fair Campaign. =E2=80=9CNovartis should =
be showing=0D
leadership in finding new solutions in a changing market place, rather than=
=0D
defending their vested interests and threatening the generic medicines that=
=0D
millions of people depend on.=E2=80=9D=0D
=0D
+++++++++++++++++++++=0D
Sheila Shettle=0D
Senior Communications Officer=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res=0D
Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines=0D
Rue de Lausanne 78=0D
1211 Geneva, Switzerland=0D
+ 41.22.849.8403=0D
+ 41.79.293.0270 (m.)=0D
www.accessmed-msf.org=0D
+++++++++++++++++++++++=0D
SIGN MSF'S 'DROP THE CASE' PETITION=0D
=0D
Millions of people around the world today rely on affordable medicines=0D
produced in India.  Pharmaceutical company Novartis is taking the Indian=0D
government to court to force a change in the country's patent law.  If=0D
Novartis wins, a major source of affordable medicines for millions of=0D
people across the globe could dry up.=0D
=0D
MSF is urging Novartis to DROP THE CASE.=0D
=0D
Find out more and sign up to our petition:=0D
http://www.msf.org/petition_india/international.html=0D
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