Affordable Medicine

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky is threatening trade sanctions against developing nations which attept to legally provide AIDS drugs to their HIV positive citizens.

AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

AIDS has reached epidemic levels in many developing nations. 90% of the 33 million HIV+ people worldwide live in Latin America, Asia or Africa. The U. S. Surgeon General has compared the deadly spread of AIDS in sub-saharan Africa (where 22.5 million are HIV+) to the Black Plague that swept accross Europe in th 14th century.
The vast majority of AIDS patients around the world live in poverty, and would never be able to afford prices charged by U.S. pharmaceutical firms. Therefore, governments around the world have moved to provide lifesaving drugs to their citizens at far lower prices by using two processes: compulsory licensing and and parallel importing.

What is compulsory licensing?

A government pays royalties to a patent holder, and permits a third party to produce a patented good. This introduces competition into the market and can lower the price of medicine by 75% or more. Its specifically permitted under Article 31 of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as the “TRIPS Agreement.” It is a common practice among WTO Member countries, including the U.S.

What is parallel importing?

It is the import of a product from one country, and then the resale into another country. Drug prices vary widley in different parts of the world, so the savings can be dramatic. The practice is allowed under Article 6 of the TRIPS Agreement. Like compulsory licensing, it is commonly practiced by WTO Memeber countries. For a more thorough explanation of the legality and use of these both compulsory licensing and parallel importing, click here.
What has the U.S. done to prevent developing countries from taking these measures? U.S. foreign trade policy favors the profits of multinational drug companies (which give money to politicians) over the lives of terminally ill poor people abroad (who obviously do not give money to politicains). American economic diplomacy is overseen by Charlene Barshefsky, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Under her leadership, the U.S. government has threatened and used trade sanctions to prevent foreign nations from using compulsory licensing and parallel importing to save lives. When Brazil attempted to save lives, tariffs on their exports were doubled until they backed down. Other nations which have faced trade sanctions due to their sensible medicine policies are Argentina, the Phillipines, Thailand, Israel, Pakistan, and India.

If you find this hard to believe, you can find the same information on the USTR’s own website. The USTR maintains a “Section 301″ list of countries which it is pressuring. This list includes actions taken against foreign countries for a variety of other reasons as well. To view the list, click here.
As stated above, these pressures are usually applied at the request of the pharamceutical industry, which donates quite a lot of money to “both” political parties. According to a study by Common Cause, the industry donated $18.6 million to campaigns (in PAC and soft money donations) between January 1, 1991 and June 30, 1997.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
1. DOWNLOAD, COPY, AND DISTRIBUTE THIS PAMPHLET! It contains the same information about efforts to prevent people with AIDS from getting access to the medicines they need to survive. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read the document. To download a free copy of the software, click here.

2. Write to, call, email or fax U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky Demand a change in policy. Point out that compulsory licensing and parallel importing are legal under the TRIPs agreement, and that the U.S. policy of pretenting otherwise is terribly unethical.

Charlene Barshefsky
U.S. Trade Representative
600 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20508
Phone: 202-395-6890
Fax: 202-395-3911
cbarshefsky@ustr.gov

3. Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress. Urge him or her to interfere with the USTR’s efforts to ensure that medicines remain prohibitively expense in developing nations. The main number to the House of Representatives is 202-225-3121 and the main number for the Senate is 202-224-3121. The operator will put you through to the office of any Representative or Senator.