/ 9 November 2001

Bill to clear the way for cheap drugs

Belinda Beresford

While the World Trade Organisation prepares itself for a full and frank discussion on costs and access to medicines in Qatar next week, the Democratic Alliance has stepped into the fray by submitting a private member’s Bill to Parliament to allow easier access to anti-retroviral drugs in South Africa.

Unveiled yesterday, the Bill seeks to adjust the Patents Act to make it easier to override patents in cases of national emergency. Such compulsory licenses are already allowed for within the Act, but this has not yet been used as a tool to obtain cheaper anti-retroviral medicines to fight HIV/Aids.

In its memorandum proposing the Bill, Democratic Party MP Sandy Kalyon says that the HIV/Aids epidemic afflicting South Africa “has clearly illustrated the need for amendments of this nature”.

Other DA proposals include the VAT zero-rating of medicines, the inclusion of South African-registered anti-retroviral drugs on the Essential Drugs List and the development of a programme to supply such medicines through the public sector

Compulsory licences are used worldwide. The United States, which has been one of the most vocal supporters of intellectual property rights legislation, recently used the threat of compulsory licences to convince pharmaceutical company Bayer that it should offer the antibiotic Ciprobay for use against anthrax at a hugely reduced cost.

The DA says its proposal will make it easier for a minister to apply for and receive permission to issue a compulsory licence, yet will still be compliant with the World Trade Organisation’s trade-related aspects of international property rights (Trips) agreement. Trips is a murky agreement, with some developing countries charging that they are not being allowed to fully exploit the rights Trips grants them, and business and some developed countries calling for a tightening of some of the provisions.

The US government recently recognised the strains many countries face in implementing Trips by proposing that the deadline for least-developed nations to be fully Trips compliant be extended by 10 years to 2016.

It also suggested a moratorium on referring to the World Trade Organisation sub-Saharan countries that breached patents to get drugs as part of their campaign against HIV/Aids. Both proposals, which will form part of the discussions at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Qatar, have come under fire.

The US Trade Representative’s office did not reply to the Mail & Guardian’s request for clarity on the proposals.