AEGiS-WSJ: Compulsory Drug Licenses Help the Poor and Sick

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Compulsory Drug Licenses Help the Poor and Sick

Wall Street Journal - May 8, 2007
Raymond C. Offenheiser - President, Oxfam America, Washington

Quite contrary to your editorial's assertion ("Abbott's Bad Precedent," April 30), the biggest winners in Thailand's decision to issue compulsory licenses are the poor and sick who would otherwise continue to be denied affordable medicines. Stricter intellectual property rules do not drive drug research for diseases that particularly affect poor people in developing countries. Pharmaceutical companies certainly have not prioritized investing resources to meet the needs of those in poor countries: 90% of pharmaceutical sales go to individuals in wealthy markets, while all of Asia (excluding Japan) and Africa only account for 5%.

With more than 500,000 HIV positive people in need of anti-retroviral medicines and with heart disease now one of the top causes of death, the growing burden of disease will threaten the health of Thai citizens and the country's economic productivity. The system to protect intellectual property rights exists for the sake of society, not for the enrichment of a few. After all, expensive medicine in poor countries doesn't mean higher profit for drug companies, it just means poor people don't get medicines.
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