For Immediate Release: November 14, 2002
Contact: Asia Russell, Health GAP +1 267 475 2645

Health GAP on Doha Plus One:
Bush Administration poised to break promises on patents and access to medicines at WTO 'mini-Ministerial'

At the start of the WTO's informal Ministerial meeting in Sydney, AIDS activists called on US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to stop undermining the agreement reached in Doha to widen poor countries' access to cheap, generic medicines. The Sydney meeting runs 14-16 November; this controversy in the debate over access to generic medicines will feature high on the agenda at Sydney.

One year ago in Doha, Qatar, WTO ministers agreed to increase access to affordable medicines by permitting countries to prioritize public health and access to medicines over the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies.

However, current WTO rules restrict manufacturers from exporting generic versions of patented medicines to countries without the domestic capacity for efficient drug production. This distortion in WTO rules limits which countries can benefit from important health safeguards‹like compulsory licensing and parallel importing of medicines‹clarified in the Doha agreement. The Doha accord calls for a solution to this problem by the end of 2002.

Since most poor countries with unmet health needs lack the capacity to produce affordable medication, overcoming this obstacle in the WTO rules is a critical part of upholding countries' right to public health and access to medicine for all.

US trade negotiators are lobbying African countries to maintain the restrictions on generic imports. A copy of the letter from a deputy of the US Trade Representative to African governments, along with other background documents, are available on the web at: http://www.healthgap.org/camp/trade.html

According to treatment activists, the US trade negotiators, heavily influenced by pharmaceutical companies, are pushing developing countries to resolve this dilemma with an inefficient, conditional, and ultimately unworkable solution. "The US trade negotiators would rather make Big Pharma happy than support a coherent change in WTO rules that prioritizes the public health needs of poor people," said Asia Russell of Health GAP.

Health GAP and other advocacy organizations are calling for the US and the EU to endorse a solution that makes obtaining exported generic medicines as procedurally easy for countries unable to make medicines domestically as it is for rich countries in the North with sufficient capacity for efficient local production.

"Countries without access to life-extending medicines require a solution that is driven by public health and human rights imperatives," said Brook Baker, of Health GAP. "A bad deal from the US that appeases drug companies company but locks countries into an untenable solution will mean the unnecessary loss of countless lives."