[Ip-health] 2 articles re Oxfam urging Thailand to keep generic drug program

[Sarah Rimmington]

1. AFP article
2. (TNA) Thai News Agency article

1.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsAXAPKLDTWCmVa65dzG5DBkrtVQ
Oxfam urges Thailand to keep generic drugs programme

19 hours ago

BANGKOK (AFP) =97 British aid agency Oxfam on Tuesday urged Thailand's new
government not to scrap a controversial generic drugs programme, which
provides cheaper, copycat medicines to the poor.

"We are encouraging the new government of Thailand to continue" the
programme, Oxfam's regional director for East Asia, Sarah Ireland said
at a news conference.

"We urge the government to listen to the poor people in Thailand," she said=
.

Under the scheme, Thailand's previous military government issued
so-called compulsory licences, which temporarily suspend patent
protections for pricey medicines and allow production of cheaper and
copycat versions.

The move has angered Western drug giants, which called it an
infringement on their intellectual property rights, but activists have
hailed it, saying it was a "beacon" for other developing nations seeking
cheaper medicines for the poor.

The previous government overrode patents for popular heart drug Plavix
and two key AIDS medicines -- Kaletra and Efavirenz -- and issued
compulsory licences on three cancer drugs in January shortly before it
left office.

Apart from the three cancer drugs -- Docetaxel, Letrozole and Tarceva --
the military government also struck a last-minute deal with drug giant
Novartis, which agreed to give its leukaemia medicine Glivec to Thai
patients for free.

But the kingdom's new Health Minister Chiya Sasomsub said this month he
would review the generic drugs scheme, alarming health activists that
the new government would scrap the programme.

Oxfam's Ireland said Chiya should not make an U-turn on the scheme.

"These compulsory licences are completely legal and permit the
government to provide cheaper and lifesaving drugs to their people,"
Ireland said.

Among the cancer drugs, Docetaxel treats lung cancer and Letrozole is
used for breast cancer. Tarceva is used for lung, pancreatic and ovarian
cancer.

2.
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=3D2895

Oxfam urges Thailand not to scrap compulsory licensing

BANGKOK, Feb 19 (TNA) =96 England-based aid organisation Oxfam urged Thaila=
nd's new government to maintain the previous military-appointed government'=
s  policy of issuing compulsory licenses (CL) for drugs which enable poor p=
atients to access expensive life-saving drugs they could otherwise not affo=
rd.

Oxfam's HIV/Aids programme director Chalermsak Kittitrakul said Oxfam was w=
orried that after Thailand's new government said it would review the CL act=
ions, because it could have a strong negative on poor patients who can't af=
ford treatment to stay alive because they will not be able to purchase the =
high price drugs.

"The previous government's issuance of compulsory licensing made key AIDS d=
rugs cheaper and accessible to over 120,000 patients," he said.

The military-appointed government, which came to power after a coup in Sept=
ember 2006, imposed compulsory licences last year on the heart medication P=
lavix and two AIDS drugs--Efavirenx and Kaletra.

The outgoing Public Health Minister, Mongkol Na Songkhla, issued another ba=
tch of CL decisions for four cancer medicines -- Imanitib, Letrozole, Docet=
axel, and Erlotinibas.

Thailand's new Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab, after assuming his p=
ost, immediately suspended the controversial CL process, saying that the pl=
an could harm Thailand's trade relations with the US. He said the ministry =
would review the CL approvals for key cancer drugs by the previous governme=
nt.

However, Mr. Chalermsak argued that Thailand should go ahead with the plan =
to provide CL actions for the cancer drugs as it could save the lives of ma=
ny poor patients who were unable to access the expensive medications.

He said when Thailand initiated the action to break the patent protections =
on AIDS drugs, it was praised by varied international communities and organ=
isations as it had set an example for other developing countries on how to =
save the lives of the very poor.

"If (Thailand) fails to continue to enforce (compulsory licensing) on key c=
ancer drugs, it could affect the other developing countries' attempt to fol=
low suit," he said. (TNA)-E003

 General News : Last Update : 22:02:15 19 February 2008 (GMT+7:00)
--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 387-8030
Cell: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/