E-DRUG: IHT Letter from Ellen t'Hoen

[ethoen@compuserve.com]

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E-DRUG IHT Letter from Ellen 't Hoen
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The International Herald Tribune publushed my letter "Patents and Health"
in response to the story "Aids activists Dog Gore of June 19" which was
published in the Washington Post and the IHT. I enclose the text but you
can also find it on the following WEB site:

 http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/WED/ED/edlet.2.html

Ellen 't Hoen
____________________________________

Ellen 't Hoen - International Drug Policy Consultant
e-mail: ethoen@compuserve.com


Patents and Health


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International Herald Tribune
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Regarding ''AIDS Activists Dog Gore''(June 19):

The report raises a fundamental question: How far can one go in favoring
commercial interests at the expense of people's health and well-being? Many
effective, life-saving remedies are and have been for many years out of
reach of people in developing countries.

In 1977, the World Health Organization published the Essential Drugs List
to address this issue. Essential drugs are ''those that satisfy the health
needs of the majority of the population; they should therefore be available
at all times in adequate amounts and in the appropriate dosage form.''

The current list contains 306 drugs. Only about 15 of these are patented.
Certain essential medicines are not included because they are under patent
and as a result not affordable to the populations that need them. This is
the case for all AIDS drugs (except AZT for the prevention of mother-child
infection) and certain antibiotics.

One-third of the world's population still has no access to essential drugs.
There is tremendous concern about the future, particularly about the
effects of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or
TRIPS, agreement, which binds countries to provide patent protection for a
minimum of 20 years.

Many developing countries are now implementing this agreement. Their new
patent legislation will have an effect on local manufacturing capacity and
remove a source of innovative, quality drugs on which the poorer countries
depend.

There seems to be too much emphasis on protecting patents and too little on
protecting people. Good patent laws do both, also internationally. The
TRIPS agreement offers governments the possibility to assure access to
medicines while implementing the requirements of patent protection.
Examples are compulsory licensing of patents and parallel import of cheaper
drugs. These are perfectly legal options under the agreement, but countries
that want to use these clauses find the United States and the multinational
drug industry in their way, as is the case in South Africa.

Access to health care is a human right. Policies that lead to a situation
in which much of the world's population has to wait for decades to have
access to life-saving drugs violate this right. It is encouraging to see
that American AIDS activists are confronting Vice President Al Gore with
this issue.

ELLEN 'T HOEN.

Amsterdam.

The writer is a consultant on international drug policy and a lawyer
presently involved in the campaign on access to medicines of Medecins Sans
Frontieres.



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