Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - November 14, 2006
Ben Hirschler

British-based anti-poverty charity Oxfam, AIDS campaigners and medical groups said rich nations were taking little or no action toward meeting their obligations under the "Doha Declaration", leaving millions without affordable medicines.

The World Trade Organization granted a special exemption in 2001 allowing countries to put public health ahead of patents within its Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement.

But Oxfam said rich countries, particularly the United States, were bullying developing countries to impose stricter patent rules in order to preserve pharmaceutical monopolies.

Health activists say that access to cheap generic drugs is vital if poor countries are going to put up an effective fight against killer diseases such as AIDS and malaria.

"At the time, the Doha Declaration seemed like a great breakthrough for people in poor countries who urgently needed affordable treatment. Sadly, promising words have not translated into life-saving treatments," said Steve Cockburn, Stop AIDS campaign co-ordinator.

POOR INFRASTRUCTURE

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations countered that access to medicines was not the major issue affecting health in the developing world and many patented drugs were anyway available at cost or even for free in poor countries.

According to manufacturers, the root of the problem is inadequate infrastructure and missing hospitals, clinics, medical equipment and trained healthcare workers.

The clash over patents in the developing world has focused attention on a couple of high-profile cases including a dispute over the cancer drug Glivec, made by Switzerland's Novartis.

An Indian court in January rejected its patent application for Glivec, but Novartis is fighting back, arguing that the principle of intellectual property protection must be safeguarded if innovation is to flourish.

The ruling has minimal commercial significance because 99 percent of Indian patients get the drug free of charge.

But Paul Herrling, the company's head of corporate research, told the Reuters Health Summit last week that India risked falling behind China in drug research if it did not shore up its weak patent protection system.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, however, thinks it is time for a radical rethink of the entire way new medicines are developed and paid for.

"The current system based on patents and high prices to pay for innovation leads to rationing and leaves huge health needs neglected," said MSF campaigner Ellen 't Hoen.

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