[Ip-health] US action plan must be opposed, groups tell govt

[Kannikar KIJTIWATCHAKUL]

US action plan must be opposed, groups tell govt

Plan full of drug licensing demands, not IP
protection, Aids activists say


Aids activists and academics called on the Commerce
Ministry yesterday to reject the "action plan"
proposed by the United States to remove Thailand from
its priority watch list for intellectual property
protection.


Jon Ungphakorn, secretary-general of the Aids Access
Foundation, said if the government agreed with the
action plan, not only would its use of compulsory
licensing to make generic copies of patented drugs for
medical emergencies be more restricted, it would also
have to tighten drug patents for US companies.


After insisting last week that the downgrading of
Thailand's trade status reflected increased piracy of
CDs and software, the US Trade Representative (USTR)
came up with an action plan full of demands to tighten
Thailand's drug patenting system, he said.


Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, from FTA Watch, said the
demands listed in the action plan were similar to
those the US made in its talks with the Thai
government about a free-trade agreement.


He said the key demands were an extension of drug
patents from the normal 20 years to compensate for
administrative delays in granting patents; imposition
of data-exclusivity provisions, which mean a delay in
the production of general versions of patent-expired
drugs reaching the market; expansion of drug patents
to cover the diagnosis process and surgery; and
restricting reasons for the Thai government to issue
compulsory licences.


Commerce Ministry officials are due to meet
representatives of the US on the action plan on
Friday.


Vithaya Kulsomboon, a pharma-cology lecturer at
Chulalongkorn University, said that helping people
with HIV get access to cheaper drugs, and lead normal
lives, would boost the Thai economy much more than
trade privileges from the US.


"The Commerce Ministry should place more concern on
the lives of patients not on commercial profit," Jon
said. And the ministry should not be afraid of
pressure from the US, as the government was not alone
in the struggle for easier access to key medicines.


Last Friday, the Brazilian president issued a
compulsory licence to allow the import of a generic
version of Efavirenz, after the drug's patent holder
Merck & Co failed to match the 60-per-cent price
reduction requested.


Jon hoped that more developing countries would follow
suit. Many developing countries want to use compulsory
licensing as allowed by the World Trade Organisation,
but were afraid of US economic sanctions, he said.


"This is not just a fight for Thai patients, but for
all in developing countries," he said.

Pennapa Hongthong


The Nation


Kannikar KIJTIWATCHAKUL (Kar)
Mobile 66-85-0708954
kakablue@yahoo.com

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