Letter to Editor from Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, concerning "Bangkok's Drug War, Round Two"
Thu, 6 Mar 2008
Dear Editor,
I am one of the 'packhounds' that you accuse of spreading scare stories in your editorial (Bangkok's Drug War, Round Two) of 27 February 2008. My organization, which consists of people living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand, supports access to necessary drugs for all Thais, not just the rich minority that can pay the prices charged by pharmaceutical companies enjoying monopoly patents.
[THE THAI GOVERNMENT HAS THE LEGAL & POLITICAL RIGHT TO DEVELOP AN HIV/AIDS UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO MEDICINES PROGRAM AT ITS OWN EXPENSE. BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEMAND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM FOREIGN INVESTORS; OTHERWISE IT RISKS TRIGGERING CAPITAL FLIGHT].
Your article is sadly misinformed. What you call the 'loophole' of compulsory licensing (which is what has kept some of my friends alive) is in fact a piece of international law that was heavily negotiated and agreed by all member countries of the WTO.
[THIS IS NOT TRUE. THERE WAS NEVER A CONSENSUS ON THE SCOPE OF THE COMPULSORY LICENSING PROVISIONS WHICH HAS BEEN EXPLOITED BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AT THE INSISTENCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF ACADEMICIANS AND NGOS].
The Thai government did not 'seize' patents; it used the same legal right that many other countries have used, including the United States, whose threats of trade sanctions so worry the new Thai Minister of Public Health.
[WHEN HAS THE UNITED STATES ACTUALLY ISSUED A DE JURE COMPULSORY LICENSE?? PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON THE MISLEADING INFORMATION PROVIDED BY KEI'S JAMIE LOVE].
You claim that the need for access to life-saving HIV, heart disease and cancer drugs is not a clear emergency in Thailand. Cancel the free distribution of drugs made possible through compulsory licences and thousands of Thai will be dead in weeks. The emergency is clear enough to them.
[WITH THIS RATIONALE, ANY DISEASE THAT INFLICTS A SUBPORTION OF A POPULATION WILL BE DESIGNATED AS AN 'EPIDEMIC' UNDER THE EVOLVING WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION STANDARDS AND THEN DECLARED A 'HEALTH EMERGENCY' FOR PURPOSES OF TRIPS!!]
And you claim that 'the other side of the argument' is 'missing'. Given the intense lobbying of the new Minister by what you call 'Big Pharma', supported by the US government and enjoying far richer resources than my organization can muster, this is hard to swallow.
[PHARMA COMPANIES HAVE LEGAL ECONOMIC RIGHTS TO DEFEND THEIR EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE PROPERTY, AN ECONOMIC ASSET AGAINST GOVERNMENT EXPROPRIATION. WHY IS IT WRONG FOR THEM TO PROTECT THEIR PRIVATE INTERESTS???]
It took my organization and our allies (in the government, the media, and academia, as well as in other NGOs) a long, long time to get our government to exercise its legal right to compulsory licensing.
Please do not misrepresent our case, bully our government or call us names.
Virat Purahong,
The chairperson of Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (TNP+)
494 Soi Nakornthai 11
Ladproa 101 Road,
Klongjan, Bangkapi
Bangkok, Thailand 10240
Tel (66)2377-5065 Fax (66) 2377-9719
E-mail : tnpth@thaiplus.net
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Thai Health Activists Are Misled To Believe Their Government is 'Licensed' to Steal Private Drug Patents From Foreign Investors Pursuant To WTO Law!!
Thai Government Commissions Two-Week 'Study' To Find Country-Wide Cancer Health Emergency: Seeks To Justify Compulsory Licenses
http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/03/03/national/national_30067110.php
No cancellation of CL for cancer drugs : Chaiya
by Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation.
March 3, 2008
The Public Health Ministry will not revoke the recent enforcement of compulsory licensing for cancer drugs and will retain it as a key mechanism to negotiate with drug firms to reduce product prices, said Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab Monday.
"The use of compulsory licensing must be continued alongside the negotiation with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of drug products," he said.
The Health Ministry has to retain compulsory licensing as an important tool to help give patients access to livesaving drugs. But the drugs, upon which compulsory licensing was imposed by his predecessor, Dr Mongkol Na Songkla, had not yet been approved by the previous Cabinet, he said.
Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce had informed him that the compulsory licensing of cancer drugs would affect Thailand's international trade, particularly with the United States, which may designate a country as a "Priority Foreign Country" if it has an adverse impact on relevant US products.
This was the reason why the Health Ministry earlier announced a revision of the compulsory licensing enforcement for cancer drugs.
The drugs for which compulsory licensing was imposed on January 4 are docetaxel, sold as Taxotere by Sanofi Aventis; erlotinib, sold as Tarceva by Roche; and letrozole, sold as Femara by Novartis. All are expensive and the poor could not afford for treatment.
"Some information and the process of the recent imposition of compulsory licensing for cancer drugs was not legal because it was not imposed by Cabinet resolution," he said.
To implement compulsory licensing and not affect international trade, Chaiya had assigned the National Health Security Office, the National Cancer Institute and health experts to calculate the total number of patients suffering from leukaemia and breast, lung and gastric cancer, which would help the ministry estimate the budget for imported drugs.
A study is now in process and is expected to conclude in the next two weeks. The results will then be submitted to the Cabinet for a decision on this controversial issue.
However, he said it is the duty of the Minister of Commerce to make the decision to revoke or retain compulsory licensing.
Government Pharmaceutical Organisation chairman, Vichai Chokewiwat said the recent imposition of compulsory licensing for cancer drugs could not be revoked by the Ministry of Commerce because the 1992 Patent Law's Article 51 allows any Ministry to announce compulsory licensing for the noncommercial use without approval by the Ministry of Commerce.
He said if the government makes a decision to cancel the recent compulsory licensing it would violate the constitution and the National Health Security Office Act, which appoints the government to provide cheap drugs and effective treatment for patients.
Indian Pharma Company Refuses to Register Drug in Thailand Due to Risk of Patent Compulsory License
Chaiya favours CL on cancer drugs - for now
Bangkok Post.com
March 3, 2008
Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap insisted on Monday that he intends to persevere with the policy of issuing compulsory licences (CL) for key cancer drugs - but the government may still decide to cancel the patent-busting measure.
Mr Chaiya, who has ordered a review of CL policies on drugs for heart disease, spoke on Monday with representatives from the labour union of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), which is theoretically to break patents and manufacture generic copies of expensive drugs eventually.He said the issue will be finalised within two weeks, and insisted he will not withdraw the CL ordered on cancer drugs for poor patients.
He said, however, that the final decision on the issue rests with the Commerce Ministry. The public must await the results from the commerce ministry.
Rawai Phupaka, chairman of the GPO Labour Union said that an Indian drug company postponed drug registration in Thailand for another 25 months pending the public health ministry's final decision
on the CL.[EVEN THE INDIAN PHARMA COMPANIES ARE RELUCTANT TO REGISTER THEIR DRUG PRODUCTS IN THAILAND DUE TO THE LACK OF RESPECT FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY-BASED PATENTS. THE IMPRUDENT THAI GOVERNMENT POLICY WILL THUS HARM THE WELFARE OF THAI CITIZENS!]
The postponement, he pointed out, might cause the GPO substantial monetary damages. Until it is able to manufacture the drugs itself, the GPO is to import and resell Indian-made copies of the drugs. (TNA)
