Over 200 social activists and experts have met in Bangkok to discuss compulsory licensing, innovation and access to medicines for all. These Public health and HIV/AIDS activists from the developing world are trying to break the monopoly over drugs held by pharmaceutical giants.
The campaign seeks “a new way out of the current patent system; one that will encourage innovation of new drugs and access for all,” says Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, an organiser of the International Conference on Compulsory Licensing: Innovation and Access for All. “What we have now is innovation controlled by the pharmaceutical industry that lets them have a monopoly on drugs.”
Their first meeting is with the World Health Organization (WHO) in early January 2008 where they will demand a compromise is found between big pharma, which produces patent-brand drugs, and the world’s poor, who have little or no access to the available life-saving medication due to high prices. They want the campaign added into the WHO’s Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), so that their campaign is heard at the January meeting.
They want to find a way to boost research and development of affordable health-care products so people, particularly in the developing countries, can receive treatment for diseases. They want an emphasis on neglected conditions including HIV/AIDS because big drug companies have contributed only marginally towards developing new drugs to help the world’s poor. Only 10% of the total global investment in pharmaceutical research was directed towards neglected diseases affecting 90% of the world’s population. This is reflected in a paper Health Action International saying that between 1975 and 2004, 1,556 new active ingredients for drugs were developed yet only 18 were for tropical diseases, which are the big killers.
Research is going where drug companies see a market, so into diseases in the rich in the West, which normally already have a number of treatments available. Rewards must be available to encourage new innovations that will benefit the poor.

The challenge these activists face is vast, with Big Pharma’s global market at an estimated $650 billion. Recent events in Thailand, which lead to the successful use of a compulsory license for Abbotts AIDS treatment, shows the South-east Asian country has emerged as a leader in the developing world to take advantage of global trading rules to secure cheaper, generic drugs for public health emergencies such as HIV/AIDS.

Below is their declaration if you are interested:

Bangkok Declaration on compulsory licensing, innovation, and access to medicines for all

From November 21 to 23, 2007, 200 of experts, social activists and patient network from all over the world have gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss compulsory licensing, innovation, and access to medicines for all. This is our declaration.

1. We recognized and applauded Thailand’s leadership in the use of compulsory licensing to overcome legal monopolies as well as decisions by Brazil and Indonesia. Thailand’s continued leadership on compulsory licensing is important, but so too will be the actions of other countries. Because of economies of scale, it is important that the potential market in developing countries for generic products is large enough market to collectively justify entry by generic suppliers.

2. To achieve our optimal goal on innovation and access to medicines for all, we have created a new global network on compulsory licensing, innovation and access for all (I +a4a). This network will link together patients, NGOs, academic / public health experts, government officials, and generic drug manufactures to find ways to ensure that patients have access to medicines with acceptable quality.

3. We confirm that compulsory licensing of patents is a legitimate, important and effective tool to protect consumer and public interests. Thus every country should have the rights to systematically and routinely use compulsory licensing and other means under TRIPS flexibility similarly to wealthy countries. Governments all over the world use compulsory licensing in a variety of contexts and in many different fields. The right to use compulsory licensing is incorporated in international law and precedent, including WTO’s TRIPS agreement and Doha Declaration.

4. Objections to the use of compulsory licensing in developing countries to ensure access to medicines for all patients are often based upon untruthful, misleading, unproven assertions and assumptions, and are designed to appeal to prejudices regarding the developing world. This should stop.

5. It is feasible to permit generic competition for products, dramatically expanding access to medicines, while ensuring sustainable sources of financing for needs driven research. Because we can promote both innovation and access, we must reject policies that force choices between the two, and accept the marginalization of low income and uninsured persons.

We applaud the May 2007 World Health Assembly resolution WHA60.30 which calls upon the WHO to consider new mechanisms that de-link R&D incentives and financing systems from the prices of drugs. We support the calls for a new global treaty on medical R&D, that does not force countries to embrace monopolies and high drug prices to financing medical innovation, and which boosts investments in needs driven essential R&D, including R&D needed to address the special health problems of developing countries.

Our cause is important for everyone. We are seeking global norms that ensure innovation and access for all. This is an achievable goal, if we collaborate and work together.

For more information: http://www.cl4life.net

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Campaign News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.