The war of multinational companies against cheap generics will ultimately deny access of vital drugs to poor nations in their fight against many of the dreaded diseases , feel activists in this area.
European customs authorities by seizing legitimate low-cost generic medicine being shipped from India and China to other developing countries on charges of counterfeiting and patents infringement is depriving patients from having access to medicine that treat many ailments including AIDS, heart ailments, Alzheimer's Disease,dementia. psychological problems and high blood pressure.
Though the Customs' actions, said to be instigated by complaints from big European companies, alleging that the medicine may be counterfeit and violate their intellectual property, the medicines were not counterfeit product nor in violation of patent laws, but was legitimately produced by Indian companies and being imported by Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria and other developing countries at prices much lower than the branded drugs.
According to Indian generic companies, most of these drugs are shipped to countries like Brazil, Peru, Columbia etc where these drugs are not patented. Weaker patent laws in developing countries allowed India and others to develop a booming business making and selling generics, both internally and to other nations.
The seizure has caused outrage among the governments exporting and importing the drugs and health groups. Concerned over the fact that sick people are being deprived of low-cost medicines they feel that some European governments are blocking legitimate trade between developing countries in order to unfairly promote the commercial interests of their big drug companies.
Activists in this area like Open Society Institute (OSI), Health Action International (HAI) and Oxfam have pointed to a disturbing trend on confiscation of generic medicines on the pretext of cracking down on counterfeits. According to them, the EU is using the problem of counterfeit drugs as a pretext to protect the intellectual property of its pharmaceutical industry over the interests of patients in poor countries who need cheaper copies. Generic delivery is legitimate under WTO rules, Oxfam and the independent Health Action International report say.
Influenced by big drug companies, European Union (EU) is increasing pressure on developing country governments to surrender their rights to obtain affordable generic medicines, even though these rights are guaranteed under global trade rules, as per a report.
"The EU is guilty of double standards," says Elise Ford, Oxfam head of EU advocacy. "One rule for the rich and another for the poor. A crackdown on European pharmaceutical prices is happening alongside a concerted effort to further push intellectual property rules that prevent poor countries from buying affordable medicines".
The seizing policy is also increasing the cost of medicine. Millions of poor people have to pay for medicines out of their own pockets, so even a small price rise can make them unaffordable, he adds.
Fake, substandard and counterfeit drugs issue needs to be separated intellectual property (IP) enforcement, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, rejecting the counterfeit drugs agenda giving a major blow to the developed countries and pharma MNCs.
Counterfeit is an intellectual property right (IPR) issue and should not be linked to quality and efficacy of medicines, WHO said in a resolution passed in its annual forum, the south-east Asia region in September.
WHO has made it clear that it does not support IP policies that could potentially undermine availability of safe and affordable medicines to the people in developing countries like India.