26 February is the Global Day of Action against Indian
Patent Ordinance
8th February 2005
On 26 December 2004, the Government of India
promulgated an Ordinance amending the Indian Patents Act 1970. The
provisions of the Patent (Amendment) Ordinance seriously threatens access
to medicines in India and worldwide - such countries which are dependent
upon imports from India and compromises peoples' basic Rights to Life and
Health.
Everyday, 8,500 HIV-positive people die due to lack of
access to treatment worldwide. Of the 40 million people living with HIV
worldwide, 6 million are in immediate need of anti-retroviral (ARV)
treatment. More than 5 million people in India are living with HIV and 0.5
million of these need immediate treatment. Only 0.44 million people living
with HIV in all developing countries currently have access to ARV
treatment. This access has been greatly facilitated by the Indian generic
pharmaceutical companies bringing down prices of medicines drastically.
Presently, Indian generic manufacturers export generic medicines to over
200 countries all over the world.
For people with living with HIV whose current treatment
regimen is failing, access to newer, more expensive
"second-line" ARV drugs is critical. These combinations cost 20
times more than "first-line" combinations. With India's Patent
Ordinance, generic production of many of these new medicines will be
blocked. The same is the case with other ailments like cancer,
cardiovascular diseases etc. For instance, the anti-cancer drug Gleevec
costs US$2500 per month while generic version of the same is available at
US$250 per month in India. An Exclusive Marketing Right (EMR) that has
been granted to Novartis A.G., the manufacturer of Gleevec, is already
threatening availability of the generic drugs.
Apart from pharmaceuticals, the Ordinance also provides
patent protection to agro-chemicals and fertilisers enabling the companies
to charge monopoly prices. High costs of pesticides will result in
costlier foodgrains and will negatively hit consumers, especially the
poor. The Ordinance also brings software under the purview of patent
protection furthering the digital divide.
The Patent Ordinance prescribes "TRIPS-PLUS"
standards that take India beyond the commitments agreed to under the TRIPS
agreement. Further, it also undermines the flexibility available within
TRIPS, as reiterated in the Doha Declaration, to ensure access to
medicines to people of India and other developing countries. Global
Coalition against the Indian Patent Amendment believes that India has a
duty to place public health concerns and access to medicines for people
over the commercial interests of pharmaceutical companies. Public interest
groups in India are gravely concerned that the Ordinance will trade away
India's right to protect public health including availability of low-cost,
quality generic medicines. In other words, accepting the Ordinance will
have the effect of losing even the minimum space available within the
TRIPS agreement to protect health.
Against this background, public interest groups and
trade unions are holding a mass protest on 26 February 2005 against the
Patents (Amendment) Ordinance 2004. We call upon like-minded groups all
over the world to observe a Global Day of Action (GDA) on 26 February 2005
to demand access to generic drugs in India and elsewhere. In the past,
such actions resulted in major victories and forced pharmaceutical
companies to drop suits against the South African government (March 2001)
and also compelled the US to change its decision to approach the WTO
Dispute Settlement Body against Brazil (June 2001). We hope this time too,
peoples' unity will win over corporate power and force the government of
India to replace the Ordinance with the new Bill and to tackle the public
health concerns in India and elsewhere.
Public interest groups and individuals all over the
world are requested to hold protests in the form of rallies, marches and
vigils against the Patents Ordinance. Groups can also formally convey
their protest to the Indian embassies and consulates. A website is being
created to coordinate the activities and facilitate sharing of information
on GDA (www.gcaipa.org). The website www.gcaipa.org would be accessible to
the public from 0900 hrs GMT on 09.02.2005.
In Solidarity
Global Coalition against the Indian Patent Amendment (GCAIPA)
GCAIPA is an informal network of groups and individuals
that are working to ensure access to treatment, food, information, etc.
There are many more organisations and individuals behind this campaign and
lot more are joining. So the contact list presented below is just to
facilitate communication in various regions.
Contact Persons:
National Working Group on Patent Laws
A-388, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-110 044, India
Telephone: +91-11-26947403 Fax: +91 -11-26813311
Email: wgkeayla@del6.vsnl.net.in
Contact person: B K Keayla Mobile: +91 9811143191
Affordable Medicines and Treatment Campaign (AMTC)
C/o Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit
2nd Floor, 7/10, Botawalla Building, Horniman Circle, Fort, Mumbai 400
023, India
Telephone: + 91-22-22630889 Fax: + 91-22-22702563
Email: amtc_india@yahoo.co.in
Contact person: K M Gopakumar Mobile: +91 9819140881
People's Health Movement Global Secretariat
C/o Community Health Cell, # 367, "Srinivasa Nilaya",
Jakkasandra I Main,
I Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 560 034, India
Telephone: + 91-80-25531518 Fax: + 91-80-25525372
Email: secretariat@phmovement.org
Contact person: Prasanna Saligram Mobile: + 91 9845518382
People's Health Movement - India (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan)
Contact person: Dr. B. Ekbal
National Convenor, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan
Address: Kuzhuvalil House, Arpookara East, Kottayam - 686008,
Phone: + 91-481-2598305, 09447060912,
E-mail: ekbal@vsnl.com
Association For India's Development and Insaaf
International, Maryland, USA
Vineeta Gupta
Email: guptahr@yahoo.com
