Response to the Stop AIDS Campaign “Access Denied” on access to medicines
and supporting HIV treatment for all by 2010.
November 2006
The proper treatment and care for people with AIDS needs to be available,
accessible and affordable worldwide. That is why the UK has pressed for an
international agreement to universal access to AIDS treatment, prevention, care
and support by 2010.
The Campaign raises concerns that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) rules
prevent easy access to affordable AIDS medicines. The trade of patented
medicines is governed for WTO members by the Agreement on Trade Related
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This agreement provides a number of
flexibilities to allow patents to be waived in defined situations when public
interests prevail over private ones, in particular with regard to public health
needs. For example, TRIPS allows countries to produce generic copies of patented
medicines for domestic consumption if necessary. Furthermore, WTO members agreed
in December 2005 to amend the TRIPS agreement to allow pharmaceutical producing
countries to manufacture generic copies of patented medicines for export to a
non-producing country, at the latter’s request.
The UK strongly supports the rights of developing countries to make full use
of the flexibilities allowed under TRIPS so that medicines are affordable,
accessible and meet public health needs. We agree that the new flexibilities can
be complex, and perhaps difficult to implement, reflecting the diverse range of
interests involved. We are working to help countries build capacity to make use
of the TRIPS flexibility provisions. We will also explore other ways to unlock
the TRIPS flexibilities.
Improving access to affordable medicines for the poorest in developing
countries will only be achieved once all the bottlenecks or barriers have been
tackled. An important part of this is to support the strengthening of health
systems to deliver medicines equitably and transparently to all who need them.
Beyond driving down prices through TRIPS and trade, DFID’s approach includes
supporting developing countries to make distribution and use of medicines more
efficient, as well as to further engage with the business community and
pharmaceutical industry, and promote research and development of new drugs and
medicines.
The Campaign also notes the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade
agreements. The Government’s view is that bilateral and other agreements should
not oblige, or perhaps even coerce, countries to adopt intellectual property
standards or timetables that go beyond TRIPS. We will seek to ensure that EU
agreements with developing countries avoid imposing obligations which go beyond
those of the TRIPS Agreement.
We are one of the G8 countries supporting advanced market commitments (AMCs).
This is an innovative funding mechanism that aims to create a market for future
vaccines that is sufficiently large and credible to stimulate private investment
in research and development and manufacturing capacity for vaccines which
primarily address developing country diseases. AMCs provide a strong incentive
for pharmaceutical companies to invest in research since donors commit to
subsidise the purchase of new vaccines at a specified price thus making them
more affordable for poor people. The first pilot will be for pneumonia, which is
the leading infectious cause of child mortality worldwide, causing an estimated
19% of the estimated ten million child deaths that occur each year. Pneumonia is
likely to worsen because of the AIDS epidemic since AIDS suppresses the immune
system.
We are supporting UNITAID, the new international drug purchase facility, to
fund second-line antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs, paediatric ARVs and TB and malaria
drugs, predominantly in low income countries. We hope that through pooled
funding we will achieve reductions in the prices of second-line drugs such as
lopinavir/ritonavir and tenofovir (Viread and Kaletra). The UK Government is
also helping to strengthen the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) medicines’
prequalification process through UNITAID funding. This should improve the
availability of new second-line ARV products and overcome the long backlog of
medicines seeking pre-approval.
Germany is still considering its detailed priorities for next year’s G8
Summit. We will continue to work closely with all countries including our G8
partners to ensure international health issues including finance remain high on
the agenda.
Improving access to medicines requires a global response. Governments and
civil society need to work together to persuade others to come on board. There
is a clear role here for national NGO platforms to lobby the development and
finance ministers in their respective countries. Investing in strong health
services is crucial. Unless the commitment is there to build an effective health
system the assistance which can be provided through improved access to medicines
will not make the impact that it should. We will therefore continue to
prioritise support for strengthening health systems through our bilateral
programmes.
Gareth Thomas
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for International Development
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