WTO close to agreeing medicines supply deal
pharmafile | October 21, 2003 | News story | |
World Trade Organisation ministers say they are close to striking a deal aimed at improving the provision of medicines to developing nations.
Discussion about access to medicines dominated the informal WTO Ministerial Conference in Sydney, attended by ministers from 25 countries and aimed at relaxing trade laws.
Currently, countries unable to manufacture products themselves can issue a compulsory licence to allow them to import the drugs they need, but, paradoxically, under the TRIPs agreement, generics manufacturers are unable to export them.
Michael Bailey, an Oxfam spokesman, said it was "yet one more double standard in WTO rules".
Ministers had set themselves a deadline of 31 December to strike a deal after failing to secure a resolution at the WTO meeting in Doha, last year, despite acknowledging that public health concerns over-rided patent issues.
But the Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said the end was in sight, saying the talks had been "very, very productive", and adding: "This is not an economic issue, this is a moral obligation that needs to be undertaken by the developed world".
US trade representative Robert Zoellick said: "We're not totally there yet, but I came away believing this is something we well do by the end of this year".
It seems likely, however, that any deal will only be limited to AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, though developing countries are asking that other diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, are also covered.
Developing nations governments and NGOs such as Oxfam and Medicines sans Frontiers have urged WTO ministers to adopt the "straightforward" solution of revising TRIPs to grant any country the right to import necessary medicines for any disease without imposing additional obligations.
Oxfam believes rich western countries, the US in particular, are blocking changes to TRIPS, with the backing of pharma companies. "The big drug companies don want to lose money from their patented products and are lobbying hard to limit any changes to the rules". But this would render the solution "virtually worthless", said Mr Bailey.
Several companies are, however, now taking the initiative by providing medicines at very low prices and participating in large-scale public health projects. In particular, GlaxoSmithKline is now providing its HIV antiretrovirals and malaria medicines at not-for-profit prices in 63 developing world nations, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
