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Canada risks embarrassment if Bill C-9, proposed legislation allowing the export of discounted medicines to poor nations, ends up stillborn, a senior UN official has said.
Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, made the comment this week, when Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is preparing to visit Africa, where millions are in need of cheap drugs to treat diseases like HIV and AIDS.
The law is expected to eliminate legal hurdles in the generic production of patented medicines for export, but manufacturers say the resulting legislation will make copying and exporting of drugs too costly.
Lewis, however, has urged generic firms to test the law by trying to export the medication, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions