“Stop HIV/AIDS in India” - Patents Act and WTO: Global action

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Association for India’s Development (MD), in partnership with Insaaf

International and International Commission of Jurists (Punjab), is initiating a

coordinated global effort to organize people and organizations concerned with

social justice and health for all to “Stop HIV/AIDS in India.” This effort is

focused on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

The first step is to stop the Amendment to the Patents Act of 1970, soon to come

before Indian Parliament. We call upon all people and organizations to join us

in this endeavor by:

Ø Signing and disseminating a petition to be submitted to the Government of

India through the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. The petition is available

at:

http://insaaf.aidindia.org/patents_petition.html

Ø Participating and encouraging your family, friends and co-workers to

participate in the Rally for life

January 8th, 2005, Washington, D.C

More information available at http://insaaf.aidindia.org/rally_dc.html

What this amended Patents Act would do:

It would adversely affect the availability, accessibility and affordability of

medicines – thus undermining the right to health. The impacts of the proposed

amendment amount to the violation of national and international human rights

obligations including the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural

Rights, India’s Protection of Human Rights Act (1993), Alma Ata Declaration

(1978), and the People's Charter for Health (2000). If adopted, India would be

trading away its own right to protect public health, as well as the rights of

people in other poor countries.

India would no longer be able to produce affordable generic medicines. This

especially would affect HIV medicines for second line treatment. The cost of

annual treatment in these cases would jump from $250 a year to $700-$3000.

The prices of medicines would shoot up and would affect the millions of people

suffering from a wide range of life-threatening and chronic diseases, which

including not only HIV infection but also tuberculosis, diabetes, respiratory

tract infections, and various forms of cancer.

It would have global repercussions as India plays a unique role in global access

to medicines. India is the world's chief exporter of affordable generic drugs,

especially to Africa and Asia. This amendment would threaten the survival of

millions of indigent people with HIV in these regions.

The proposed Bill would introduce product patents in the fields of food,

chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The product patents would cost both the economy

and the consumer heavily. The domestic small-scale industry, a once-promised

feature of the dream of a self-reliant, independent India, would further lose

ground to unequal competition from multi-national companies.

It is your cause:

If you are concerned about increasing HIV/AIDS:

The gigantic challenge to stop HIV/AIDS in the world requires a concerted effort

from all of us. Worldwide, 60-70 million people have been infected with HIV.

Each year 3 million people die of AIDS, including 500,000 children and the

disease is an expanding pandemic. Many experts believe India is the “decisive

battleground” in the fight against the disease.

If you are concerned about equality and health rights:

Poor people are more prone to communicable diseases and stand to lose the most

with rising drug prices. Healthcare will increasingly become a privilege of the

rich. Health rights for all irrespective of socio-economic status is promised by

the Indian constitution and international human rights norms and yet it is not

provided. The struggle for actualization would suffer a serious and grave

setback.

If you are concerned about gender equality and women’s empowerment:

Gender discrimination and lack of female empowerment is a significant risk

factor for contracting HIV/AIDS. Women have little power to negotiate safer

sexual practices and have little access to family resources. Thus, they will

suffer most from rising costs of the medicines.

If you are concerned about international financial institutions putting profits

over people:

For several years, India resisted pressure from the WTO to amend its Patents Act

of 1970. Under an ultimatum from the WTO, India promulgated an ordinance to

bring about the changes in its Patents Act. If not stopped, the same changes

will become law within the next six months.

If you are concerned about India, its people, and poor people across the globe:

India’s present Patents Law allows production of affordable and generic

medicines. Not only in India, but elsewhere in other developing countries, poor

people benefit from these medicines. UNICEF has stated that there are signs of a

rapidly-spreading AIDS epidemic in India. Home to the world's second-largest

HIV-positive population with an estimated 5.1 million people living with

HIV/AIDS, India acquires nearly 1000 new cases per month. Poor people need

generics.

If you are concerned about people dying from preventable causes and diseases:

Anti-retroviral drugs are required to prevent HIV especially in mother-to-child

transmission. They will become unaffordable not only in India but also in other

developing nations. Most of the medicines will be at least 99% more expensive

than they are now. That means more disease, suffering, and mortality. India is

already facing the challenge of an increase in resistant tuberculosis and mutant

strains of malarial parasite. Affordable medicine can deal with this threat.

Please visit www.aidindia.org to know about campaigns of AID like Narmada

Awareness, Bhopal Survivors Support, Indo-Pak Peace Campaign and fund raising

for Tsunami Victims (surpassing $1 million)

Coordinator: Dr. Vineeta Gupta (guptahr@...)

Contacts: Dr. S. M. Bhagat (301-345-5308), Priya Ranjan (priya@...)

Sincerely,

Dr. Vineeta Gupta

(On behalf of “Stop HIV/AIDS in India” Campaign volunteer team)

E-mail: <guptahr@...>