"For many years, countries such as Canada have avoided the uncomfortable truth that millions are dying in the developing world due partly to legal barriers that render access to medicines unaffordable," Michael Geist, chair of Internet and E-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, writes in a Toronto Star opinion piece in response to a recently introduced bill that would reform Canada's Access to Medicines Regime by expediting the process of exporting generic drugs for diseases such as HIV to developing countries. According to Geist, Canada "became an early adopter" of a 2003 World Trade Organization agreement aimed at easing the export of drugs. However, "[s]everal years later, most agree the policy has been a near-total failure," he adds. According to Geist, the law "has only been used once, and the company involved in the process found it so burdensome that it has vowed not to repeat it."
The new bill, introduced by Sen. Yoine Goldstein, "includes important reforms to" Canada's Patent Act, Geist writes, adding that it "would not remove all barriers, but it would help to streamline the process of obtaining the necessary approvals." He adds, "Most importantly, it would establish a 'one-license solution' to enable generic pharmaceutical manufacturers to send shipments of the same medication to multiple countries without needing new approvals for each shipment." In addition, current law allows only governments to "buy medicines on behalf of citizens," Geist writes, concluding that the bill "would make it easier for the many nongovernmental organizations focused on access to medicines to buy and distribute generic medications" (Geist, Toronto Star, 4/13).
Showing posts with label WHO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WHO. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, November 10, 2008
Global Financial Crisis Could Adversely Effect AIDS Funding
The current global financial crisis could harm HIV/AIDS funding and increase the factors that make people vulnerable to the disease, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said on Tuesday during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to Piot, as rising food and energy costs drive more people into poverty worldwide, the factors that drive the spread of HIV also could increase. "That must have an impact on the spread of HIV, although it's not so clear," he said, adding that it is certain that low-income countries will be more affected by and vulnerable to the financial crisis when it comes to providing HIV/AIDS treatment. For example, 100% of the cost to provide 50,000 HIV-positive people in Rwanda with antiretroviral drugs at the end of last year was paid by donors -- such as the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- according to Piot. He added that Brazil receives no donor funding to provide similar treatment services to its HIV-positive citizens.
Countries likely will not feel the effects of the financial crisis on HIV/AIDS "in the next six or 12 months because of commitments that have been made in better times," Piot said, adding that he wonders if it will be possible to continue enrolling 700,000 to one million people in drug treatment programs over the next few years. "If not, deaths will go up again, deaths from AIDS, no doubt about it," he said, adding, "We estimate that even if (funding) continues at the same level, deaths will go up to about three million per year by 2011."
Piot also praised the Bush administration and Congress for continuing PEPFAR, which he said is an "unprecedented program that has saved millions of lives." Piot added, "It is quite rare in international development that you can count so easily, you can measure, the impact of actions, and yet this has been the case when it comes to what PEPFAR has done, and it's unprecedented in international development." In addition, Piot commended President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for their comments at the recent White House summit on international development about how the U.S. should not reduce aid. "I hope that the next president will follow along the same lines," Piot said.
Jennifer Kates -- vice president and director of HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation -- said it is difficult to assess how the financial crisis will affect future funding levels. "How the financial crisis plays into that, we still don't know," she said.
Piot will leave his position at UNAIDS at the end of the year to head the new Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London (Vadala, CQ HealthBeat, 10/28).
Recession proof your medicine cabinet today by switching to generic AIDS drugs. Visit www.aids-drugs-online.com
Countries likely will not feel the effects of the financial crisis on HIV/AIDS "in the next six or 12 months because of commitments that have been made in better times," Piot said, adding that he wonders if it will be possible to continue enrolling 700,000 to one million people in drug treatment programs over the next few years. "If not, deaths will go up again, deaths from AIDS, no doubt about it," he said, adding, "We estimate that even if (funding) continues at the same level, deaths will go up to about three million per year by 2011."
Piot also praised the Bush administration and Congress for continuing PEPFAR, which he said is an "unprecedented program that has saved millions of lives." Piot added, "It is quite rare in international development that you can count so easily, you can measure, the impact of actions, and yet this has been the case when it comes to what PEPFAR has done, and it's unprecedented in international development." In addition, Piot commended President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for their comments at the recent White House summit on international development about how the U.S. should not reduce aid. "I hope that the next president will follow along the same lines," Piot said.
Jennifer Kates -- vice president and director of HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation -- said it is difficult to assess how the financial crisis will affect future funding levels. "How the financial crisis plays into that, we still don't know," she said.
Piot will leave his position at UNAIDS at the end of the year to head the new Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London (Vadala, CQ HealthBeat, 10/28).
Recession proof your medicine cabinet today by switching to generic AIDS drugs. Visit www.aids-drugs-online.com
Friday, November 09, 2007
WHO Director-General Chan Calls on Member States To Make Antiretrovirals, Other Medications More Affordable
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan on Monday at a meeting of WHO's Intergovernmental Working Group on public health in Geneva called on developed countries to make antiretroviral drugs and other medications more affordable for developing countries, the AP/Tacoma News Tribune reports. WHO's 193 member states by the end of the week hope to develop a strategy on drug development, patenting and pricing, according to the AP/News Tribune.
Chan at the meeting said she is aware that the "price of medicines and other products can be prohibitive, effectively blocking access to care," but she added that innovation is needed. "Resistance develops and drugs fail, creating an urgent need for second- and third-line medicines," Chan said, adding, "We have seen this problem most acutely with HIV/AIDS. We are seeing it again with the spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is far more costly and difficult to treat" (Klapper, AP/Tacoma News Tribune, 11/5).
Chan said, "The challenge is to work on multiple fronts: to meet the immediate need for equitable access to quality, affordable medicines, while also, at the same time, working to stimulate innovation." She added that the global health community "cannot allow the costs of health care to drive impoverished households even deeper into poverty."
Working Group
According to AFP/Yahoo! News, the working group was set up last year after a WHO-commissioned report called on pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices of drugs sold in developing countries. Some companies have said they already have reduced prices, and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations has said that drug price and patent issues fall under World Trade Organization jurisdiction and not WHO.
According to U.S. documents obtained by the lobby group Knowledge Ecology International, the U.S. urged countries attending the weeklong meeting to respect existing WTO commitments and not extend WHO's mandate. The U.S. "would like you to make sure you are aware of the potentially negative trade and intellectual property implications that could arise from this initiative" at WHO, the document said. James Love, director of KEI, said the U.S. and European Union are playing a "cynical game" in attempting to break the consensus toward making drugs more affordable (AFP/Yahoo! News, 11/5).
Related Opinion Pieces
Two newspapers on Tuesday published opinion pieces in response to the WHO meeting. Summaries appear below.
* Franklin Cudjoe, Wall Street Journal: Inadequate infrastructure, not price, is the "chief obstacle blocking access of high-quality medicine" in developing countries, Cudjoe, executive director of the Imani Center for Policy and Education, writes in a Journal opinion piece. "If the West is any guide, better health systems come with economic development and higher standards of living," both of which are "frequently stifled" in developing countries by "destructive policies and home-grown corruption," Cudjoe writes. "Let's hope the WHO won't succumb to the misconception that compulsory license can cure Africa's health problems," Cudjoe writes, concluding that "economic development remains the continent's best hope for eradicating the diseases of poverty" (Cudjoe, Wall Street Journal, 11/6).
* Jeremiah Norris, Taipei Times: WHO member states "need to knock this treaty on the head ... before the WHO does lasting damage to global public health," Norris, director of the Center for Science in Public Policy at the Hudson Institute, writes in a Times opinion piece. According to Norris, WHO "aims to weaken intellectual property further and to bring research and development under the control of governments and international bodies," adding that "past evidence shows that nationalizing any business stifles innovation and that it would hinder future efforts to create drugs" for developing countries (Norris, Taipei Times, 11/4).
Chan at the meeting said she is aware that the "price of medicines and other products can be prohibitive, effectively blocking access to care," but she added that innovation is needed. "Resistance develops and drugs fail, creating an urgent need for second- and third-line medicines," Chan said, adding, "We have seen this problem most acutely with HIV/AIDS. We are seeing it again with the spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is far more costly and difficult to treat" (Klapper, AP/Tacoma News Tribune, 11/5).
Chan said, "The challenge is to work on multiple fronts: to meet the immediate need for equitable access to quality, affordable medicines, while also, at the same time, working to stimulate innovation." She added that the global health community "cannot allow the costs of health care to drive impoverished households even deeper into poverty."
Working Group
According to AFP/Yahoo! News, the working group was set up last year after a WHO-commissioned report called on pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices of drugs sold in developing countries. Some companies have said they already have reduced prices, and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations has said that drug price and patent issues fall under World Trade Organization jurisdiction and not WHO.
According to U.S. documents obtained by the lobby group Knowledge Ecology International, the U.S. urged countries attending the weeklong meeting to respect existing WTO commitments and not extend WHO's mandate. The U.S. "would like you to make sure you are aware of the potentially negative trade and intellectual property implications that could arise from this initiative" at WHO, the document said. James Love, director of KEI, said the U.S. and European Union are playing a "cynical game" in attempting to break the consensus toward making drugs more affordable (AFP/Yahoo! News, 11/5).
Related Opinion Pieces
Two newspapers on Tuesday published opinion pieces in response to the WHO meeting. Summaries appear below.
* Franklin Cudjoe, Wall Street Journal: Inadequate infrastructure, not price, is the "chief obstacle blocking access of high-quality medicine" in developing countries, Cudjoe, executive director of the Imani Center for Policy and Education, writes in a Journal opinion piece. "If the West is any guide, better health systems come with economic development and higher standards of living," both of which are "frequently stifled" in developing countries by "destructive policies and home-grown corruption," Cudjoe writes. "Let's hope the WHO won't succumb to the misconception that compulsory license can cure Africa's health problems," Cudjoe writes, concluding that "economic development remains the continent's best hope for eradicating the diseases of poverty" (Cudjoe, Wall Street Journal, 11/6).
* Jeremiah Norris, Taipei Times: WHO member states "need to knock this treaty on the head ... before the WHO does lasting damage to global public health," Norris, director of the Center for Science in Public Policy at the Hudson Institute, writes in a Times opinion piece. According to Norris, WHO "aims to weaken intellectual property further and to bring research and development under the control of governments and international bodies," adding that "past evidence shows that nationalizing any business stifles innovation and that it would hinder future efforts to create drugs" for developing countries (Norris, Taipei Times, 11/4).
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