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From Talk to Action at Durban |
$200 per year is about a tenth of the "85% reduction" price from the recently announced public-private partnership of UNAIDS and major pharmaceutical companies. It is also much less than current generic prices in countries which allow generic competition with antiretrovirals, all of which are patented in their country of origin (although not in many developing countries). These higher generic prices reflect much smaller production runs, which must recoup high set-up costs. MSF also noted that there are precedents for great price differences in essential drugs between developing and wealthier nations. For example, oral polio vaccine costs 33 times less for international health organizations than the price the U.S. government pays--which is a fraction of the catalog price which an individual in the U.S. would pay. (By suggesting widely different prices we do not mean to imply that U.S. proprietary drug prices should not be reduced--only that they do not need to be reduced to 2% or 3% of current levels, the prices viable for many African or other developing countries.)
The full report (Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. HIV/AIDS Medicines Pricing Report. Setting Objectives: Is There a Political Will? by Carmen Perez-Casas with co- authors Daniel Berman, Pierre Chirac, Toby Kasper, Bernard Pecoul, Isabelle de Vincenzi and Tido Von Schoen-Angerer) is available at www.accessmed-msf.org (or see www.msf.org). It was released by MSF on the opening day of the conference, July 9.
Before the conference, if a health minister from a developing or least-developed country wanted information on how to move toward access to HIV treatment, it was difficult to know where to begin. Now the path is more clear. From the MSF Report
"1. Role of generics. The most recent patent on all products in this report [which included 6 antiretrovirals, but no protease inhibitors] was granted for efavirenz on 17 August 1992, before many developing countries put their patent systems into effect. This means that practically speaking, generic versions of all these products could be made available today in a significant number of developing countries; countries only need to identify quality affordable suppliers and register these products with regulatory authorities. However, patent status is a national issue and needs to be researched on a country-by-country basis. "2. Intellectual property rights: Public health safeguards. Since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994, and the completion of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, more and more countries (WTO had 137 member states as of 14 June 2000) are obligated to grant 20 year patent protection for drugs. According to the TRIPS agreement, this minimum standard must be enshrined in national law by 2006 in all signatory countries. Developing countries had a deadline of January 2000, with some exceptions, while least developed countries have until 2006 to change national laws. In practical terms this means that poor countries will soon lose access to affordable life-saving medicines unless they write TRIPS safeguard provisions into their national laws..." [The report discusses three major safeguards: compulsory licensing, parallel imports, and "Bolar" provisions (which allow generic manufacturers to prepare their manufacturing process and regulatory approvals before a patent expires, so that their product can be ready to market at the time of expiration).]
"Governments from both developed and developing countries, WHO, UNAIDS, NGOs, with the input of both proprietary and generic pharmaceutical companies, should work together to find sustainable solutions for countries that do not have adequate access to life-saving and other key medicines." AIDS Treatment News Published twice monthly Subscription and Editorial Office: P.O. Box 411256 San Francisco, CA 94141 800/TREAT-1-2 toll-free U.S. and Canada 415/255-0588 regular office number Fax: 415/255-4659 E-mail: aidsnews@aidsnews.org
Editor and Publisher: John S. James Associate Editor: Tadd T. Tobias Reader Services: Tom Fontaine and Denny Smith Operations Manager: Danalan Richard Copeland Statement of Purpose: AIDS Treatment News reports on experimental and standard treatments, especially those available now. We interview physicians, scientists, other health professionals, and persons with AIDS or HIV; we also collect information from meetings and conferences, medical journals, and computer databases. Long-term survivors have usually tried many different treatments, and found combinations which work for them. AIDS Treatment News does not recommend particular therapies, but seeks to increase the options available. Subscription Information: Call 800/TREAT-1-2 Businesses, Institutions, Professionals: $270/year. Includes early delivery of an extra copy by email. Nonprofit organizations: $135/year. Includes early delivery of an extra copy by email. Individuals: $120/year, or $70 for six months. Special discount for persons with financial difficulties: $54/year, or $30 for six months. If you cannot afford a subscription, please write or call. Outside North, Central, or South America, add air mail postage: $20/year, $10 for six months. Back issues available. Fax subscriptions, bulk rates, and multiple subscriptions are available; contact our office for details. Please send U.S. funds: personal check or bank draft, international postal money order, or travelers checks. ISSN # 1052-4207 Copyright 2000 by John S. James. |
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