[e-med] (3)Un accord de l'OMC risque d'assécher la production de génériques antisida.

["Chloe Forette" <chlol@free.fr>]

A ce sujet, une pétition des activistes indiens circule, elle exige
notamment du président et du premier ministre indien de stopper la mise
en place de cette nouvelle réglementation. En fait le gouvernement indien a
fait passer l'amendement de la loi sur les brevet par ordonnance juste
entre noel et le jour de l'an. Cependant le parlement doit quand meme valider ou non cette ordonnance. D'ici là, il faut donc maintenir la pression comme on peut.
Par exemple, chacun de nous peut signer cette pétition en précisant de
quelle association/organisation il/elle est et la faire circuler le plus
largement possible.
Pour cela, allez sur:
http://insaaf.aidindia.org/patents_petition.html

Amitiés, chloé.
PS :ci-dessous le texte de la pétition.
 -------------------

Please circulate this widely to help the campaign

³Stop HIV/AIDS in India²

Dear Friends,

Association for India¹s Development (MD), in partnership with Insaaf
International and International Commission of Jurists (Punjab), is
initiating a coordinated global effort to organize people and
organizations
concerned with social justice and health for all to ³Stop HIV/AIDS in
India.² This effort is focused on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

The first step is to stop the Amendment to the Patents Act of 1970, soon
to come before Indian Parliament. We call upon all people and organizations
to join us in this endeavor by:

Ø                  Signing and disseminating a petition to be submitted
to the Government of India through the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C.
The petition is available at:
http://insaaf.aidindia.org/patents_petition.html

-----------------------

Petition to the President and the Prime Minister of India on the
Amendment of Patents Act, To be submitted on January 8, 2005 through Indian Embassy, Washington DC.

The Honorable President of India
The Honorable Prime Minister of India

We, the under-mentioned, are deeply concerned about the contents and
process of the Ordinance to Amend the Patents Act 1970 and its grave outcomes.
The changes to the existing Patents Act under the pressure of World Trade
Organization (WTO) are against the national interest of one billion
Indians as well as four billion poor and under-privileged people around the
world struggling under abysmal living conditions.

Accessibility and availability of medicine is a primary component of the
Right to Health. This Ordinance is catered towards the patent monopoly
in the interests of the multi-national corporations. It will result in an
enormous increase in drug prices making them inaccessible for the common
person. The Ordinance route taken by the Indian government without any
public debate goes against the transparency requirement of any
democratic process. We strongly protest against this step taken by the government.

The Amendment of the Patents Act of 1970, scheduled within the next 6
months, will have a profound impact on the access to affordable, quality
generic and life-saving medicines. Millions of Indians will not be able
to afford the 99% increase in the cost of the medicines. Further, 5.1
million Indians, 38% of them being women, are suffering from HIV/AIDS, totaling upto approximately12% of the HIV- Positive people in the world. It is critical for people suffering from HIV/AIDS that India does not lose its
continuing supply of anti-retroviral drugs and generic medicines. This Act will prove to be a serious setback, at this time when the health activists and medical professionals are trying to deal with rising incidents of malaria and tuberculosis in India. Not only Indians, but also a majority of the African nations (Ghana, South Africa etc) that are importing inexpensive generic drugs from India stand to lose the battle against death due to HIV/AIDS.

Until now, India has resisted the WTO pressure to change its Patent Act,
in the health and economic interest of the country. Over 20,000 small and
medium-sized drug manufacturing companies will be adversely affected in
response to the unequal competition from the multi-national corporations
(MNC). Herbal and indigenous medical products used over centuries by
common people are under threat of being stolen away by the MNCs.

Through this petition, we urge the Government of India to:
 Stop the implementation of this Ordinance
 Drop the draft bill in its present form
 Hold extensive public debates on this issue
 Open inter-active dialogue with health activists and NGOs in India and
elsewhere working on health rights, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and
other communicable diseases.
 Lead a coalition of developing countries to resist WTO pressure to
change their laws and policies which may have devastating effect on people and environment.