[Ip-health] pharmalot: Congress Urged to Honor Trade Deals

[Sarah Rimmington]

Congress Urged to Honor Trade Deals
pharmalot.com, September 25, 2007
http://www.pharmalot.com/2007/09/congress-urged-to-honor-trade-deals-for-me=
ds/

More than 100 different organizations - representing consumers, labor,
fair trade, health advocacy and religious groups - are banding together
to urge Congress to support resolutions calling for the US to reaffirm
its commitment to international treaties that promote access to
medicines and innovations in new medical technologies in developing
countries.

Specifically, the groups (you can see a list below) are referring to the
Doha declaration of TRIPS, the trade-related aspects of intellectual
property rights. (For a quick primer, look at this). A House resolution
was introduced by Tom Allen, a Democrat from Maine, and Sherrod Brown, a
Democrat from Ohio, introduced a resolution in the Senate.

=93In developing countries, the price of medicines is often a
life-and-death matter,=94 says the letter to Congress. =93For 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=85will not be sustainable
unless much cheaper generic versions become available.=94

=93The United States should support efforts to promote access to medicines
in developing countries rather than extending Big Pharma=92s monopoly
protections,=94 says Rob Weissman, director of Essential Action.
=93Unfortunately, the US government has too frequently prioritized big
pharma=92s narrow commercial concerns over public health interests, most
notably in the case of Thailand.=94 In the past year, Thailand has
authorized the use of generic versions of three important AIDS and heart
disease meds, and plans to do the same with three cancer drugs, but has
faced significant pressure from the US Trade Rep and the EU.

=93Access to medicines and the innovation of new drugs should be
complementary, not mutually exclusive, objectives. The United States
should embrace efforts to move beyond the access-innovation trade-off by
exploring new models of healthcare R&D that support innovation by means
other than monopoly pricing of drugs,=94 says Weissman.

The resolutions call on the White House to honor commitments made in the
2001 World Trade Organization (WTO) Dohe Declaration on the TRIPS
Agreement, and not pressure countries that exercise the flexibilities
guaranteed in the Doha Declaration (including the right to issue
compulsory licenses). The resolutions also urge the US to avoid seeking
intellectual property provisions in bilateral and regional trade
agreements that are more stringent than measures contained in the TRIPS
agreement.

The resolutions also urge the US to support new global norms for
promoting medical R&D that would address a needs-driven health agenda;
the intent is to develop approaches to support R&D that don=92t rely on
charging sick people exorbitant prices for meds.

Here=92s the list of organizations:

Action Aid International USA

ACT UP East Bay, Oakland, CA

ACT UP New York, New York, NY

ACT UP Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Africa Action, Washington, DC

African Services Committee, New York, NY

AIDS Action Council, Washington, DC

AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago, IL

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

AIDS Project Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, New York, NY

AkPIRG (Alaska Public Interest Research Group)

Alliance for Democracy, Waltham, MA

Alliance for Responsible Trade, US

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

Community Alliance for Global Justice =96 Washington State

Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), New York, NY

Consumer Federation of America

Consumers Union, USA

CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group)

Dominican Sisters of Hope, USA

End AIDS Now!, New York, NY

Essential Action, Washington, DC

Florida PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Gay Men=92s Health Crisis, New York, NY

Georgia PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

Global Aids Alliance, Washington, DC

Health GAP (Global Access Project), USA

HIVictorious, Inc., Madison, WI

Housing Works, Brooklyn, NY

Illinois PIRG (Public Interest Research Group)

INPIRG (Indiana Public Interest Research Group)

International Women=92s Health Coalition, New York, NY

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

Mercy Investment Program, USA

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

Mosaic Initiative, Chicago, IL

MoPIRG (Missouri Public Interest Research Group)

National Association of People with AIDS, Silver Spring, MD

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

Partners in Health, Boston, MA

Patients not Patents, Washington, DC

PennPIRG (Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group)

Physicians for Human Rights, Cambridge, MA

PIRGIM (Public Interest Research Group in Michigan)

Program for Wellness Restoration, Houston, Texas

Project Inform, San Francisco, CA

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

Public Knowledge, Washington, DC

Quixote Center, Hyattsville, MD

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 Mercy Regional Community of Detroit, Detroit, MI

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

United Steelworkers (USW), USA

Universities Allied for Essential Medicine, USA

Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk-U.S. Province, USA

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)

Women=92s Equity in Access to Care and Treatment

WE-ACTx, Chicago, Il

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