Phnom Penh Post
By Mom Kunthear and Kevin Ponniah
A proposed free-trade agreement between India and the European Union set
to be discussed today could restrict access to life-saving medicines for
more than 48,000 people with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia, union and civil
society representatives said yesterday.
Thirteen organisations
delivered a statement to the EU Delegation and Indian Embassy in Phnom
Penh, condemning the inclusion of intellectual property (IP) provisions
in an agreement that they say is “very likely to undermine the stable
supply of affordable life-saving medicines to poorer parts of the
world”.
Prum Dalish, acting co-ordinator of NGO Cambodian
Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, said yesterday that protesters
were demanding a halt to negotiations.
“We demand that they
cancel the agreement, because it will seriously affect the production
and distribution of generic drugs from India to developing countries,”
she said, adding that costs for anti-retroviral drugs could increase
fifteen-fold.
“Affordable generic drugs are absolutely vital for
the lives of millions who otherwise cannot afford expensive treatment of
life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV-AIDS,”
the statement said.
The controversial and heavily delayed agreement has been in negotiation since 2007.
Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to hold comprehensive talks
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the agreement when he arrives in
Germany today.
Activist group Knowledge Ecology International,
an NGO that tracks intellectual property policy development, published
an unverified leak of the IP provisions of the agreement online last
month, sparking renewed outcry from health and civil society
organisations.
Leena Menghaney, India representative for
Medecines Sans Frontieres’s “Access to Essential Medicines” campaign,
says the leaked provisions show punitive measures designed to “stamp out
competition from generic manufacturers”.
The leaked text
indicates that the agreement goes beyond World Trade Organisation (WTO)
guidelines on trade-related intellectual property rights, IP experts
say.
A 2001 WTO declaration affirmed that trade-related
intellectual property rights should be interpreted and implemented to
protect public health and access to medicines in developing countries.
“[Companies]
don’t want Indian courts to look at the issues patients face.
Injunctions should not be granted if patients in India or in other
countries are left without access to medicines,” Menghaney said.
Anti-retroviral
treatment in Cambodia has reached almost full coverage in a decade,
largely thanks to affordable drugs from India, UNAIDS said in a
statement. “UNAIDS calls on all countries to ensure efforts towards
universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support are not
impeded by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements,” it said.
The European Delegation and the Indian Embassy could not be reached for comment.
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