ARV prices could shoot up
Sep 06, 2011
THE prices of essential medicines, including anti-retroviral drugs, hangs in balance. The other drugs also affected are anti-malarial and anti-tuberculosis drugs.
By Joe Nam
THE prices of essential medicines, including anti-retroviral drugs, hangs in balance. The other drugs also affected are anti-malarial and anti-tuberculosis drugs.
This is because the flexibility period granted by the World Trade Organisation in which least developed countries (LDCs) are allowed to produce cheaper versions of high quality and expensive drugs is nearing expiry.
LDCs, of which East African Community (EAC) members countries are part, have been exempted from the obligation to implement patent protection in the health sector until 2016, a measure which has allowed the production of relatively cheaper generic drugs, including ARVs, in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The head of the health component of the German International Development Cooperation, Dr Thomas Walter, warned that unless the East African Community pushed for an early review of the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on pharmaceutical products, the region, comprising 130 million people, risked making health-care unaffordable.
“The East African Community considers good health of the population as critical to socioeconomic development of the region. Within the health sector, access to affordable essential medicines is of high priority among the partner states governments,†he said.
“Imports of generic medicines from India and China initially increased the access of the EAC population to high quality and inexpensive medicines, but this will soon end unless the TRIPS agreement on pharmaceutical products is reviewed soon, in favour of LDCs.â€
The EAC in partnership with the German International Development Cooperation is currently promoting access to high quality essential drugs in East African by setting up the EAC Regional Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action and making operational the EAC TRIPS Policy and Protocol.
THE prices of essential medicines, including anti-retroviral drugs, hangs in balance. The other drugs also affected are anti-malarial and anti-tuberculosis drugs.
This is because the flexibility period granted by the World Trade Organisation in which least developed countries (LDCs) are allowed to produce cheaper versions of high quality and expensive drugs is nearing expiry.
LDCs, of which East African Community (EAC) members countries are part, have been exempted from the obligation to implement patent protection in the health sector until 2016, a measure which has allowed the production of relatively cheaper generic drugs, including ARVs, in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The head of the health component of the German International Development Cooperation, Dr Thomas Walter, warned that unless the East African Community pushed for an early review of the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on pharmaceutical products, the region, comprising 130 million people, risked making health-care unaffordable.
“The East African Community considers good health of the population as critical to socioeconomic development of the region. Within the health sector, access to affordable essential medicines is of high priority among the partner states governments,†he said.
“Imports of generic medicines from India and China initially increased the access of the EAC population to high quality and inexpensive medicines, but this will soon end unless the TRIPS agreement on pharmaceutical products is reviewed soon, in favour of LDCs.â€
The EAC in partnership with the German International Development Cooperation is currently promoting access to high quality essential drugs in East African by setting up the EAC Regional Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action and making operational the EAC TRIPS Policy and Protocol.