Pharmaceutical companies
Good move on bad drugs
IPN Opinion article
The US FDA's ban on 30 drugs from India's Ranbaxy has now extended to PEPFAR's purchases of Ranbaxy ARVs for AIDS programmes but many other aid donors are still buying sub-standard drugs for poor countries from many manufacturers, in line with the WHO's shoddy 'pre-qualification' list. The poor deserve the same standards of medicines as rich people ñ not just because of human decency but also because bad medicines encourage resistance to HIV and malaria, endangering many more people. Donors must demand quality-control from the WHO.
Misdiagnosing the diseases of the poor
IPN Opinion article
India's compliance with TRIPS will not hinder the poor's access to essential medicines; rather, it is the government's hold on the healthcare sector that makes equitable healthcare impossible.
AIDS activists\' complaint not helpful
IPN Opinion article
AIDS activists in SA recently lodged a complaint of excessive drug pricing against GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer-Ingelheim with the SA Competition Commission. This is a dangerous move that does not tackle the real problem and will potentially do long term harm.
Zimbabwe provides an excellent case study of how not to increase essential drug access. For some years, Boehringer-Ingelheim has been trying to provide free antiretrovirals to the Zimbabwean government, yet uptake has been negligible. The government has been offered branded GlaxoSmithKline drugs at huge discounts but they are just not being delivered.
Ending patents not the cure
IPN Opinion article
\"The problem with the ending of patent protection, though, is that in the long term we all lose, especially those in developing countries. And that will be the outcome if the pharmaceutical companies fail in their attempt starting on March 5 in Pretoria High Court to overturn legislation that allows patent-breaking anti-AIDS drugs to be imported from India...\"
Ending patents not the cure
IPN Opinion article
\"The problem with the ending of patent protection, though, is that in the long term we all lose, especially those in developing countries. And that will be the outcome if the pharmaceutical companies fail in their attempt starting on March 5 in Pretoria High Court to overturn legislation that allows patent-breaking anti-AIDS drugs to be imported from India...\"
