Editor,
This month the UPA government is all set to make one of the most important decisions in its tenure. The decision it takes will have far reaching ramifications for the rest of the country, including Meghalaya. We are referring to the impending free trade agreements (FTA) that India is set to sign with the US and the European Union. The fact is that free-trade is not really free at all. It is a phrase parroted by foreign economists. So let us look deeper into the issues that define this thing called FTA. The intent of the FTA is for more foreign direct investments (FDI) to come into the Indian economy. It is hoped this will empower new industries and also revive the ones that are slowing down. More money it is hoped will mean that local industries will benefit with better equipment, more efficiency and of course, more money. For instance, one hotly contended item in the trade agreement is over intellectual property in the Indian pharmaceutical economy. The global giants of the pharmaceutical world are literally household names. Their business comes out of sickness. The most prominent on the Indian scene include Bayer AG, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline. These pharma giants are hell-bent on preserving their “intellectual” property, that is, the patents over certain drugs that are guaranteed to them in many countries of the world. In India, so far, the government has been disregarding these claims because this keeps drug prices down and also allows local companies like Wockhardt, Piramal and Cipla to compete on a more equal platform. However, the pressure exerted by these global companies on the government to change the laws relating to copyright is intense. It is doubtful that our Members of Parliament (MPs) know what is going on as this issue is almost exclusively discussed only in the PM’s office.
Western companies are keen to get India to do trade but only if they can maximise profits. The FTAs they are pushing for, through their governments, serve only their own interests at the expense of human lives. There are serious drawbacks for the Indian pharma industry if India submits to the clauses of the FTA. Firstly, in many poor countries, India is their low-cost pharmacy. The country has become a leading supplier of affordable HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis medications and is the second leading provider of medicines distributed by UNICEF in the developing world. This, however, may change. Before 2001, HIV+ people could not afford HIV drugs since the prices of these drugs were very high i.e. 10,000 USD per year, but with the introduction of Indian-designed generic medicines the prices of the drugs went down to 60 USD per year. Now, not only India but many developing countries are able to provide HIV treatment for their citizens.
This issue is of concern not only for people living with HIV but will affect everyone because many common medicines have problems with patent laws. People fighting ailments like cancer (the fastest rising disease in Meghalaya), hepatitis-c which 12 million (and rising) people suffer from, tuberculosis, diabetes etc will all have to suffer further. In what TIME magazine (November 2012) described as a landmark case for the industry and patients, the Supreme Court of India ruled against Novartis’ claims over the cancer drug, Glivec. In the U.S., where patent laws make it easier to register a patent claim, a monthly dose of Glivec can cost as much $5,000. In India, locally made generics cost patients $200. Compare that with Peru, Chile, Colombia which have seen steep rises in drug prices since the initiation of FTAs in their countries.
In 1970, the Indian government disallowed the patenting of drugs, paving the way for Indian pharmaceutical companies to freely produce medicines pioneered by foreign drug companies at a fraction of the cost. Today, India’s pharmaceutical industry is worth $10 billion a year and is one of the nation’s largest sectors. The price of HIV/AIDS treatment, a first-line combination of stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine, which cost patients $10,000 a year in 2000, now sells for $150 worldwide, due primarily to Indian companies’ low cost manufacturing. This rush of cheap drugs, which are also produced in the U.S. and Europe, now provides medication for 80% of the 6 million people receiving treatment in the developing world today, according to Doctors without Borders. The issue of intellectual property has created a sharp divide between its defenders who demand that India do more to protect patented drugs, and international activist groups who say excessive pharmaceutical patenting stifles generic competition that makes life-saving medication accessible to patients around the world. The reality is that most governments would not have ventured into starting large scale AIDS treatment programs if it were not for the Indian generic companies.
In India, very few organizations have seen through the veil and are fighting these attempts. Organisations like the Networks for HIV Positive People, the Cancer Association of India, Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust (Mumbai) and the Lawyers’ Collective have been at the forefront in analysing the FTA memorandums and keeping a check on Indian government’s policies with regards to this issue. Some members of the Meghalaya State Network for Positive People (MSNP+) have also been participating in rallies and workshops. The issue of higher drug prices as we have seen is not one that concerns only the HIV Positive People. The question now is – how many of us within the state would support this important struggle? Medicare should be cheap (if not cheaper) and more accessible because we all need it at some point or the other.
Yours etc.,
Barry Kharmalki,
Avner Pariat,
Agui Daimei