Health advocacy groups led by US based Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII) have announced their plans to send mass petitions to Dr R A Mashelkar, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), urging him to adopt a patient friendly position on data exclusivity. Pointing out that Dr Mashelkar has been advocating for data exclusivity or alternatively for data compensation and has submitted a study to Indian officials to prove the alleged benefits of the data exclusivity, they alleged that this study is funded by MNCs and serves their bottom line interest in delaying or preventing generic competition.

US based advocacy groups like Association for India's Development CP, Health Global Access Project Health GAP, Students Global AIDS Campaign, American Medical Students Association, People's Health Movement U.S.A and Global AIDS Alliance have already endorsed the SHAII view.

The advocacy groups have also invited like-minded organizations to join the mass petition call by signing in to http://petitions.aidindia.org/data-exclusivity/

The advocacy groups lauded the Health Ministry's position 'which opposes any changes in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to introduce data exclusivity'.

They said,"There is urgent need to stop the ministries from bringing a proposal that goes far beyond the requirements of international law to the Indian parliament to amend the existing law. Let us persuade the Indian prime-minister's office to choose people over the business profits of major international pharmaceutical companies."

The advocacy groups wanted Indian government to stand up to the pressure of multinational pharmaceutical companies and refuse to include data exclusivity or data compensation provisions. " India is one of the biggest suppliers of low-cost medicines globally, including Africa. These data exclusivity amendments and the changes it will bring will negatively affect poor people worldwide. In some instances, they could even prevent effective utilization in India of patent flexibilities granted by the WTO TRIPS Agreement, including the right to produce and sell medicines pursuant to a compulsory license," they warned.

Copies of the petitions are also being sent to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Chemicals Minister Ramvilas Paswan, Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress Party and Sujatha Rao, Director General, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).

The activists informed that the petition supports the efforts of various global and Indian organizations working to protect production of affordable medicines. The organizations include Global AIDS Alliance, Health Gap, Students Global AIDS Campaign, Association for India's Development-CP, American Medical Students Association, People's Health Movement, Lawyers Collective, Indian Network of Positive People, Doctors without Borders, Drug Action Forum -Karnataka, Centre for Trade and Development, India's Centre for Human Rights and Law, All India Drugs Action Network, International Peoples Health Council, Diverse women for Diversity, Society for Conflict Analyses and resolution, Alliance for Development, Centre for Research and Advocacy.