Govt shoots down amendment that could have seen drug prices soar

The Kenyan government has yielded to civil society pressure to remove sections of a Miscellaneous Amendments Bill that would have made it more difficult to import cheap generic drugs.

Minister of Justice Martha Karua told parliament on Thursday that the proposed amendments to the Industrial Property Act would neither help the government nor the public, according to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper.

In terms of the bill, patent owners would have had to give "express consent" for generic versions of their drugs to be imported. The present law allows "parallel importation" by independent distributors in competition with patent holders.

An attempt to push through similar legislation in 2002 was also defeated.

"This brings us complete happiness. We will now be able to continue to shop around for the cheapest drugs available," said James Kamau, coordinator for the Kenya Treatment Access Movement. "This move means life for thousands of Kenyans who depend on cheap medication."

The United Civil Society Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria led a protest march against the amendments in the capital, Nairobi, earlier this week.

According to the coalition, the amendments would have had a dramatic impact on the lives of HIV-positive Kenyans, who would have had to pay up to 1,000 percent more for antiretroviral medicines. Some 70,000 Kenyans are currently on the life-prolonging treatment, but it is estimated that more than 200,000 need it.