[india-drug] IP-Watch: India Considers Compulsory Licenses For Exportation Of Drugs (3)

["O'Brien Bone & Joint Centre" <obrienbjc@gmail.com>]

IP-Watch: India Considers Compulsory Licenses For Exportation Of Drugs (3)
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Dear Dr Khan,
Thank you for your kind reply.
As a doctor treating patients, I would like to add that we in India have been so fortunate to have wonderful civil servants like the late Sambasiva Rao, under whose stewardship the pharma and agri input sectors got the process patent legalized and framed in Indian law in 1950 or so. This is the basis for the wonderful pharma sector we have in India today, and we should not forget what this has done to help the massive growth of specially the pharma/drug manufacturing sector in India, such that we are called the "pharma producers to the world", and umpteen number of small countries and a huge part of Africa are totally dependant on the Indian pharma industry to produce good
quality cost effective drugs. I am positive that many people around the world are still living today, thanks only to this rule, which the Indian Govt was able to keep in place until recently.
Pretty soon, if any of us fall ill, and we need any of the patented drugs, even if they are made in India, we will not be able to afford it ourselves, and I am asking all of you to pay attention to this, and take serious steps to get the Govt. to take action on this front,
starting with more compulsory licenses for many expensive drugs for poorer patients. There are intellectuals in many Western countries taking steps to demand all this, while we in India, are not taking part en masse, as we should be. We should demand such action from our Govt, as it will also help people all round the world.
Let us leave product patenting for drugs, as an option to be practiced only in developed and rich Western countries, and take active steps to keep our pharma industry liberal and helpful to all sectors of the ocean of humanity, and show our love for all humanity. This is what the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, would have done, I am sure.
Also, please remember that each of us may be in the same boat of being unable to afford costly drugs like imatinib, if they are made only by 1 monopoly company. We are here to help humanity, and Indian pharma has done this magnificently so far, and I am sure there has been no dearth of new drugs being discovered and patented due to the exclusion
of India from this patent regime so far. Our pharma industry can still patent whatever they want, to their hearts content in countries like the USA and Europe. But let us let the poor live a better life, with affordable and modern medicines. And they can still make profits on sales, product development etc.

Sincerely and in good faith,
Rtn Dr NV Girish Kumar
MBBS Dortho FRCS(Ire) FRCS(Trauma & Ortho)
O'Brien Bone & Joint Clinic, Coimbatore
Secretary, Indian Medical Association, Coimbatore branch, 2007-8