[Ip-health] Deadline 9/12: US sign-on letter re access to meds and innovation

[Sarah Rimmington]

Dear all,

Please take a moment to review and sign on to an important civil society
letter to Members of U.S. Congress asking them to co-sponsor a
resolution that promotes a new direction in trade policy that supports
both access to essential medicines and the innovation of new medical
technologies to promote public health in developing countries. The
deadline is Wednesday September 12 and organizational endorsements (US
only please) should be sent to me at
srimmington@essentialinformation.org You will find the letter below the
introductory note describing the overall impact we hope to have with
this effort.

Thanks,
Sarah



----------------------------
Dear Friends,

We are writing to ask you to sign your organization onto a letter to
members of Congress asking them to co-sponsor Senate Resolution
241/House Resolution 525, calling for a new direction in U.S. trade
policy that encourages both access to essential medicines and the
innovation of new medical technologies to promote public health in
developing countries. Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Tom Allen
introduced the resolution in July 2007. The letter follows below.

This is a resolution, not a bill, meaning it expresses the sense of
Congress rather than making law. But we think it is a strategic, and not
merely a symbolic, initiative.

First, it gives us a vehicle to talk to Members of Congress, and to get
them to commit to a broad pro-access-to-medicines position: both the
principle that countries have the right to use flexibilities in
international law regarding patents and related intellectual property,
and to oppose specific ways the United States has pressured countries to
extend monopoly protections for Big Pharma (including through trade
agreements and implicit threats to impose trade sanctions through
"Section 301" listings). The resolution lets us talk directly about
access to medicines issues, without being buried in a broader debate
about trade agreements.

Second, it combines the idea of facilitating access to medicines with
promoting more health-driven research and development (R&D). This is
crucial, because it challenges the brand-name industry on the grounds
that it claims to justify its high prices and monopolies: the need for
more innovation.

Third, it gives us a real chance to affect the overall policy framework
on trade and medicines issues. If we can get key senators and
representatives to co-sponsor and work for the resolution -- most
importantly, Senators Clinton and Obama -- we can look to future U.S.
administrations and future Congresses to pursue and insist on trade
policies that are more public health-friendly. (In this regard, it is
worth noting that former President Bill Clinton has endorsed efforts by
Thailand and Brazil to use flexibilities available under international
law to speed up the introduction of generic competition for important
medicines.)

To endorse the letter or for more information, please contact Sarah
Rimmington at srimmington@essentialinformation.org as soon as possible,
but at the latest by Wednesday September 12, 2007. Please note we are
seeking the endorsement of American organizations only.

Thank you,
Sarah Rimmington
Essential Action

------------------

Dear Senator:

We are writing to urge you to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 241, calling
for a new direction in U.S. trade policy that encourages both access to
essential medicines and the innovation of new medical technologies to
promote public health in developing countries.

The resolution calls on the United States to:

=95 Honor the commitments it made in the 2001 World Trade Organization
(WTO) Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The
Doha Declaration affirms that WTO Members may use "to the full" the
flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) "to protect public health and, in particular, to
promote access to medicines for all," including the issuance of
compulsory licenses on grounds determined by member states. Compulsory
licenses permit countries to import or produce lower-priced generic
versions of on-patent medicines to promote and protect public health.

=95 Refrain from punishing or threatening trade partners for using TRIPS
flexibilities to advance public health objectives. Earlier this year,
the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) cited Thailand's lawful issuance of
compulsory licenses for three important, high-priced drugs as a reason
to place the country on the Special 301 Priority Watch list. USTR also
complained in Brazil's Special 301 listing that the country was
considering a lawful compulsory license (which it has since issued).
USTR has also cited numerous countries for not providing monopolies
("data exclusivity") for use of clinical test data generated by
brand-name pharmaceutical companies, a rule which exceeds obligations
under the TRIPS Agreement and causes serious harm to public health in
developing countries.

=95 Refrain from seeking intellectual property measures more stringent than
those provided for in TRIPS. Bilateral and regional trade agreements
negotiated by the United States over the last decade contain a wide
range of "TRIPS-plus" measures, such as data exclusivity, that slow the
introduction of generic competition.

=95 Support new global norms for promoting medical research and
development that provide a sustainable basis for a needs-driven
essential health agenda. Much of the opposition to the use of compulsory
licensing and other public health safeguards is based upon concerns that
such measures will undermine R&D for new medicines. The resolution
addresses this concern in a new and positive way. Several health groups
and experts are calling for a new global framework that focuses on
measures to support priority medical R&D, as an alternative to the
current global framework which focuses on tough intellectual property
rules and other measures to promote high drug prices. The World Health
Organization has created an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) to
discuss the feasibility and benefits of a new global framework that
would reconcile the needs for both innovation and access to medicines,
investigate new sustainable mechanisms for funding R&D for diseases and
conditions that have disproportionate impact on poor people living in
developing countries, and to consider new incentive systems, such as
prizes, that de-link R&D rewards from the prices of products. The
resolution supports these efforts.

Both access to medicines and the innovation of new treatments are
crucial public health goals. In developing countries, the price of
medicines is often a life-and-death matter. For example, generic
competition for the older first-generation AIDS drugs has reduced their
price in developing countries by more than 98 percent, which was
critical to the massive scale-up in AIDS treatment seen over the past
five years. However, most newer, second-generation treatments are under
patent and current treatment levels (including people receiving
treatment through PEPFAR funding) will not be sustainable unless much
cheaper generic versions become available. At the same time, new
approaches to medical R&D are needed in order to spur innovation to meet
priority health needs ignored within the existing global system to
support medical research and development.

We need your leadership and engagement to ensure the public health needs
of those in developing countries are protected and promoted. We urge you
to co-sponsor S. Res. 241 to help make the public health principles of
innovation and access the governing feature of U.S. trade policy with
respect to intellectual property rules.


Yours truly,

<List in Formation>

Action Aid International USA

ACT UP New York, New York, NY

ACT UP Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Africa Action, Washington, DC

African Services Committee, New York, NY

AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago, IL

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

AkPIRG (Alaska Public Interest Research Group)

Alliance for Democracy, Waltham, MA

Alliance for Responsible Trade, USA

American Jewish World Service, USA

American Medical Student Association, Reston, VA

AREA (American Run to End AIDS), New York, NY

Association Mujer y Comunidad, San Francisco Libre, San Francisco, CA

CALPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group)

Campaign for Labor Rights, Washington, DC

Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH), San Francisco, CA

Church World Service, USA

Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC), USA

Columban Missionaries Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office, USA

COMPA-Nicaragua

Community Alliance for Global Justice =96 Washington State

Consumer Federation of America

Consumers Union, USA

CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group)

End AIDS Now!, New York, NY

Essential Action, Washington, DC

Florida PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Georgia PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Global Aids Alliance, Washington, DC

Health GAP (Global Access Project), USA

Illinois PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

INPIRG (Indiana Public Interest Research Group)

InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Cleveland, OH

Intersect Worldwide, New York, NY

Iowa PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Jubilee Northwest Coalition, Seattle, WA

Knowledge Ecology International, Washington, DC

Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State/ Economic Justice for All,
Latham, NY

Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Silver Spring, MD

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Washington, DC

Maryland PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

MASSPIRG (Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group)

Medical Mission Sisters (USA), Philadelphia, PA

Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office

Mennonite Mutual Aid, Goshen, IN

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Justice, Peace/Integrity of
Creation Office, USA

Mosaic Initiative, Chicago, IL

MoPIRG (Missouri Public Interest Research Group)

National Physicians Alliance, Reston, VA

NCPIRG (North Carolina Public Interest Research Group)

NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, USA

NHPIRG (New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group)

Nicaragua Network, Washington, DC

NJPIRG (New Jersey Public Interest Research Group)

NLARx Legislative Working Group on Trade and Prescription Drugs.
Hallowell, ME

NMPIRG (New Mexico Public Interest Research Group)

Nonviolence International, Washington, DC

Ohio PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

OSPIRG (Oregon State Public Interest Research Group)

Oxfam America

PennPIRG (Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group)

PIRGIM (Public Interest Research Group in Michigan)

Public Citizen=92s Global Trade Watch, Washington, DC

Public Knowledge, Washington, DC

Quixote Center

RESULTS USA

RIPIRG (Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group)

Saint Michael=92s College Student Global AIDS Campaign, Colchester, VT

Salud y Farmacos-USA, Austin, TX

Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ

Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN

Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, Administrative Team, Milwaukee, WI

Sojourners/Call to Renewal, Washington, DC

Student Global AIDS Campaign, USA

Student Trade Justice Campaign, USA

TexPIRG (Texas Public Interest Research Group)

TransAfrica Forum, Washington, DC

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, USA

Unitarian Universalist Global Aids Coalition, Portland, OR

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries, USA

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, USA

Universities Allied for Essential Medicine

U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Vermont Global Health Coalition

Washington Office on Africa (WOA), Washington, DC

WashPIRG (Washington State Public Interest Research Group)

WISPIRG (Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group)

--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 387-8030
Cell: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/