Activists sceptical over global drug agreement

After two years of wrangling and delays, World Trade Organisation (WTO) members last week finally agreed on a deal that eases access to generic drugs for developing countries. It will enable poorer countries to import generic versions of patented medicines from countries producing the cheaper drugs, such as India or Brazil, without violating patent rules. In November 2001, the WTO meeting in Doha, Qatar, agreed that under international rules, developing countries should be able to produce their own generics to deal with public health emergencies, without permission from the companies holding the patents. They were, however, not allowed to import the drugs from other countries, thus preventing countries without the capacity to produce their own generics from bypassing the patents. WTO members had pledged to resolve this issue by the end of 2002, but failed to do so until now. Yet AIDS activists have called the agreement "flawed", as it still does not provide a "workable solution". "The flaw is in the amount of conditions connected to such importations. These will hamper easy production ... and will basically destroy the market for generics drugs," the regional press officer for Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF), Wyger Wentholt, told PlusNews. Under the new agreement, a country such as Kenya - without sufficient capacity to locally produce drugs - will first have to notify the WTO if they wish to import the drugs. "WTO will then decide whether or not to approve the decision. If they agree, Kenya and the exporting manufacturer will have to issue licences, to be subjected to a WTO review," Beryl Leach, regional coordinator of the drug access lobby group, Health Action International, told PlusNews. The exporting manufacturer would be required to provide the drugs on a not-for-profit basis and change medicine packaging - all at an additional cost. Moreover, the process could be challenged by a WTO member at any time, she noted. "This is not a good deal for most generic manufacturers, who operate on a low profit margin anyway. I don't see how anyone in their right minds could say this will speed up access to essential medicines," Leach said. Taking advantage of this new deal would be "burdensome", and required "technical expertise" that was beyond the reach of most of the countries wanting to access the drugs. "They've given us a solution that is probably not going to work for the poor people without any medicines, who are dying of AIDS and other illnesses," she added. Although the outcome of the WTO talks had been disappointing, this "must not prevent countries from immediately taking measures that are allowed under WTO patent rules, in order to access affordable medicines and save lives," a joint statement by MSF and OXFAM concluded.