The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called the Central government's attention towards the serious concern expressed by its member countries on the possible fallout of the Patent Law Amendment that has been carried out by India recently.

In a carefully worded letter to the union health minister recently, WHO wanted Indian Government to take "necessary steps to continue to account for the needs of the poorest nations that urgently need access to anti-retrovirals, without adopting unnecessary restrictions that are not required under the TRIPS agreement and that would impede access to medicines."

According to the letter, several WHO member states have expressed their concern that in the future, generic antiretroviral drugs from India may no longer be available to them. The countries that expressed concern over the changes in Indian Patents Amendment include Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Nambia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam.

The letter pointed out that WHO has been actively monitoring the implications of trade agreements on public health. "One of the key issues is the impact of the end of the transition period at January 1,2005, allowed under the TRIPS agreement, which delayed the application of product patents, on local production and supply of antiretroviral agents," it says.

The WHO reminded the Central Government, "the WTO Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health adopted in Doha in 2001affirmed that the TRIPS Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO members' right to public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all." The letter also highlighted the World Health Assembly resolutions that wanted member countries to use the full flexibility available within the TRIPS to ensure availability of affordable medicines to all. The WHO has also offered all technical assistance to countries to promote implementation of the TRIPS Agreement consistent with the public health objective of ensuring access to medicines.