Affordable drugs: India stand justified

Just about two years ago, when the Supreme Court had rejected the claims of Bayer against grant of compulsory licence by India Patent Office to the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma for manufacture and sale of cancer fighting drug Sorafenib at Rs 8,800 per person per year against Rs 33.60 lakh by the multi-national firm, an impression was sought to be created by the global firms as if India was disincentivising research and development (R&D). Such a campaign had solicited help even from the officials from the US or other western nations suggesting India was transgressing the multilateral rules. This was far from truth, because what the India Patent Office had done was well within the rights given by the World Trade Organisation under the TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) agreement reached at the landmark Doha Round in 2001 with a pivotal role by India’s then commerce minister late Murasoli Maran. At that WTO Ministerial Meeting, India had fought as a champion of the third world and the developing countries in favour of affordable medicine.

While the rich nations had grudged the flexibility provided under the TRIPS, taking them as an affront against the pharma giants based in the US and Europe, the pains inflicted by the greedy drug makers are now being felt even by the citizens of the developed countries. The recent case in point is that of Mylan NV which raised the price of its emergency anti-allergy drug EpiPen, also taken by school kids, by 548% since 2007, selling a pack for $608. There is a public outrage against such a huge and unjustified increase in the price and the issue is being debated even in the US presidential elections.

Against this background, comes a report by the United Nations High Level Panel on Access to Medicines asking countries to use the policy space enunciated so well in the WTO’s TRIPS arrangement. Michael Kirby, retired judge of the High Court of Australia and one of the UN panel members, has made an observation which is so apt for countries like India, which have been at the receiving end of the campaigns launched by the powerful drug firms. In his observation, Kirby says the countries “which have been devout to take advantage of the TRIPS flexibilities guaranteed to them by TRIPS and Doha have suffered consequences from countries ascertaining their intellectual property.” India which has been supplying cheap and affordable medicines all over the world, through the generic versions, stands vindicated by the UN panel report which must be hailed in the larger interest, over and above sheer commercial considerations.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/572808/affordable-drugs-india-stand-justified.html