Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - March 21, 2007
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul
"We're wondering what the WHO [World Health Organisation] is doing apart from sending a letter to initially support the Thai government's move on compulsory licensing," said Paul Cawthorne, head of mission of the Doctors without Borders (MSF).
A group of representatives from MSF and British-based Oxfam yesterday met Suwit Wibulpolprasert, special adviser to the public health minister, to show support to the ministry's drug access policy.
They also planned to globally campaign against Abbott products after the US drug-maker last week announced that it would withhold its new products in Thailand in protest against the military-installed government's decision to override its blockbuster Aids drug Kaletra.
Dr Cawthorne believes the WHO and the UNAIDS, as two international bodies dealing directly with world population and health issues, should be more involved in this global drug patent debate and play a leading role in supporting low-income countries in their fight to access the badly needed but high quality patented medicines, despite facing pressure from pharmaceutical companies.
He said the WHO should come up with a list of essential drugs for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. Although many have been patented, most were still regarded as generic drugs.
"It is the WHO's job to find cheaper versions of the expensive drugs for poor countries," he said. The organisation will send letters urging concrete action regarding access to generic drugs to both UNAIDS director Peter Piot and WHO director-general Margaret Chan.
Dr Chan wrote to the ministry last month expressing regrets over her much-criticised comments on a Thai government plan to produce cheaper versions of patented drugs through compulsory licensing.
She later threw her backing behind the government decision by saying that it was certainly in line with the Trade-Related Aspects on International Property Rights (TRIPS).
During a brief visit to the National Health Security Office in early February, she was adamant that negotiations with multi-national drug companies were necessary before the government could move to compulsory licensing.
P. T. Jayawickramarajah, the WHO representative in Thailand, said in an interview with the Bangkok Post recently that the organisation had encouraged 193 countries to ensure access to affordable, high quality drugs by supporting the use of flexibility within the TRIPS agreement.
The organisation also tried to educate member countries about the global framework of this international trade agreement so that they could effectively deal with the issue of drug access.
"This is all I can comment," he said.
The ministry in November overrode the patents of Aids drugs Kaletra and Efavirenz and heart drug Plavix to import cheaper generic versions for treating people suffering from the diseases claimed as national epidemics.
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