Brazil to break ART patents. Why not India?

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

As I understand it, Indian pharma have stockpiles of ARVs just sitting in waste

while millions are dying, mostly because the US is politically blackmailing the

producers of generics.

What would happen if India followed Brazil's suit? With the second highest

prevalence rate, wouldn't it be politically justifiable?

-Joya Banerjee

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7C52DC38-1D71-417F-934E-330C59304CED.htm

Brazil to break Aids drugs patents

Wednesday 01 December 2004 3:08 AM GMT

Brazil says drugs firms are holding poor countries 'hostage'

Brazil will break patents on some foreign Aids drugs next year to escape the

control of multinational firms holding developing countries hostage, the

government has said.

Brazil, which has a much-copied universal free Aids programme, has for years

threatened to break patents in its drive to cut the cost of foreign drugs used

in its 15-drug anti HIV-Aids cocktail.

It will make the move in 2005 when it begins domestic production of three to

five drugs without permission from the companies that hold the patents, Pedro

Chequer, head of the government's Aids programme said.

Chequer did not specify which patents would be broken.

Under Brazilian law, and based on World Trade Organisation rules, a nation can

break drug patents by applying a " compulsory licence " on a product if it is a

case of national emergency or national interest.

Self-sufficient

Brazil says it can no longer afford to run its free anti-Aids programme using

imported drugs.

" We determined that we have to move to a situation of self-sufficiency through

compulsory licensing, " Chequer said. " If we don't move towards self-sufficiency,

the programme will collapse. "

Brazil has a universal and free Aids drugs programme He added: " We see mergers

of multinationals, regional monopolies, it's all a big agreement to keep

developing nations hostage to the multinational industry. "

In the mid 1990s Aids experts expected millions of Brazil's young,

sexually-active population to fall prey to the disease.

Brazil began free access to the cocktail of drugs in 1997. It has kept the

number of people living with HIV at about 600,000. Nearly 150,000 Brazilians

currently receive the HIV-Aids drug cocktail, almost half the total of 350,000

who receive such treatment throughout the developing world.

Imports costly

The cost of providing foreign imports of drugs in the cocktail has skyrocketed

from 50% of the programme's budget in 1998 to an estimated 85% in 2005.

Brazil currently makes seven of the drugs in its cocktail and hopes to begin

manufacture of more in the first half of 2005.

But the South American country still lacks pharmaceutical industry technology

and the capacity to supply all 15 of the drugs, Chequer said.

" Breaking patents means vertical national production from start to finish, so

that we are not dependent on any other country for essential materials, " he

added.

Newly released data indicates the spread of Aids stabilised in 2004 in the

nation of 180 million people, but was rising among poor, black and mixed-race

Brazilians. Figures also show the disease has reached record levels among

women.