[Ip-health] MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES intervention at IGWG 2.2

[James ARKINSTALL]

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MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES INTERVENTION AT IGWG 2.2=0D
Thursday 1st May 2008=0D
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Thank you Chair.=0D
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My name is Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer and I am speaking on behalf of=0D
M=C3=A9decins Sans Fronti=C3=A8res. Thank you for the opportunity to addres=
s this=0D
important gathering.=0D
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In  2000, I was working in one of MSF=E2=80=99s AIDS projects. Our response=
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pandemic was one based on a simple medical decision: faced with the urgency=
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of patients dying, the only acceptable response was to treat.  This was an=
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ethical imperative, to treat, regardless of the difficulties.=0D
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A treatment that then cost over ten thousand dollars for each patient for=
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one year has now plummeted to under one hundred dollars.  This 99% drop =E2=
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which opened up the possibility of life-saving treatment to millions =E2=80=
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happened only thanks to competition between manufacturers, which put an end=
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to monopolies.=0D
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But we cannot hope for this to happen again for newer drugs in the future.=
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With TRIPS implementation causing the source of generic medicines to dry=0D
up, governments now have to resort to deliberate, complex strategies to=0D
keep the price of medicines down.=0D
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These strategies are a source of conflict, both between governments, and=0D
between governments and drug developers.  That such conflicts have=0D
multiplied in recent years across the globe, from South Africa to Brazil to=
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Thailand, shows that something is wrong.=0D
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I have also seen time and again incontestable evidence of a second failure=
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of the medical research and development system: that it fails to respond to=
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diseases that affect people in developing countries.  Tuberculosis provides=
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a perfect example for this.=0D
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Treating standard TB was difficult already: the most common test to detect=
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TB misses more patients than it actually detects, and the treatment regimen=
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is lengthy and cumbersome.=0D
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What was a difficult disease to treat then, has now become a public health=
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emergency through the effect of the HIV pandemic, and the spread of=0D
resistant strains.=0D
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The problem lies squarely with the lack of tools at our disposal: no=0D
simple, rapid test to better detect TB in field clinics; drugs that must be=
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taken for up to 24 months and that cause the most terrible side effects;=0D
and practically no treatment options at all for XDR-TB.=0D
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The current R&D system has the wrong priorities: it is unable to respond to=
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the health needs of millions of people across the developing world.  The=0D
scale of the problem is so immense, that putting all our faith in=0D
philanthropic organisations alone would be foolish.  The likelihood of=0D
having a novel TB regimen with at least two new drugs by 2015 is less than=
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1%.=0D
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What we need from you, governments here at the IGWG, is to address these=0D
fundamental problems with both medical R&D and access to the products of=0D
innovation.  You are tasked with changing the current situation and you=0D
need to have the courage to do so. This is, and must remain, a=0D
government-led process.=0D
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I understand that rich countries objected to an R&D fund without putting=0D
alternatives on the table. The IGWG is a historic opportunity and this=0D
should not become an historic failure for lack of response.=0D
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Governments, and the WHO, must not abdicate from their responsibilities, or=
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pass the buck to others.  We are asking you to strengthen WHO role in=0D
intellectual property and health, to change the way R&D is prioritised and=
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financed so that paying for the research does no equal prohibitive prices,=
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and to take measures to increase generic competition.=0D
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We are asking you, then, to rise to the challenge and change the rules to=
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ensure access and innovation. Because we need both.=0D
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Thank you.=0D
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