News May 2007

WHO Urges Development Of Cheap Drugs

The UN health agency approved a resolution Wednesday urging experts to find new ways of financing medicine and vaccine development to lower drug prices and improve worldwide availability.

The World Health Organization's members agreed on the resolution by consensus without a vote, a day after delegates walked out of a negotiating session aimed at bridging differences among the agency's 193 members over the highly divisive issues of drug development, patenting and pricing.

The resolution encourages governments to address "the linkage between the cost of research and development and the price of medication." Another controversial elements is its call for WHO to provide "technical and policy support" to countries intending to make use of World Trade Organization rules for overriding patents.

"I am fully committed to this process and have noted your desire to move forward faster," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said. "We know our incentive: the prevention of large numbers of needless deaths and suffering."

Under WTO rules, countries can issue so-called "compulsory licenses" to disregard patent rights, but only after negotiating with the patent owners and paying them adequate compensation. If they declare a public health emergency, governments can skip the negotiating.

Brazil and Thailand recently invoked the procedure to import cheap generic drug versions of AIDS drugs, among other medicines. Many AIDS patients have developed resistance to older anti-retrovirals and now need more expensive, second-line drugs.

Kaletra, produced by manufacturer Abott Laboratories, is one of the commonly used second-line drugs. But at a cost of about US $2,200 per year, it is too expensive for developing countries with limited resources.

The compulsory licenses issued by Brazil and Thailand were praised by health campaigners, but were criticized by industry groups, and the Thailand on its copyright watch list.

Abbott Laboratories responded to Thailand's move by withdrawing seven of its latest drugs from the Thai market. It later backtracked and announced it would cut its Kaletra price to $1,000 per year.

Brazil proposed the WHO resolution, but for reasons that had nothing to do with its government's recent measures or criticism it may have received, Rodrigo Estrela said at Brazil's UN mission in Geneva.

Earlier this month, former US President Bill Clinton announced agreements with generic drugmakers Cipla and Matrix to produce anti-AIDS drugs that would generate an average savings of 25 percent in low-income countries and 50 percent in middle-income countries.

The international aid group Oxfam says compulsory licensing almost never occurs because developing countries face pressure from rich governments acting on behalf of their drug companies. Its report last year on drug access cited WHO statistics that 74 percent of AIDS medicines are still under monopoly, and that 77 percent of Africans still lack any access to AIDS treatment.

"The current system of financing drug research and development is through high drug prices. This is what drug companies say is necessary to finance innovation," said Ellen 't Hoen of Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders.

"But we are not getting the innovation we need. Many countries are seeing that," she said. "We need to find a means for financing research and development without high drug prices."

Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org/