NGOs join activists to denounce US co's action

Bangalore, Apr 27: Local NGOs and positive networks under the banner 'Affordable Medicine Treatment Campaign' joined health activists around the world to denounce the punitive actions taken by US Pharma Company Abbott Laboratories.

Karnataka Network of Positive people (KNP+) and other NGOs, who were working for People Living with HIV (PLHA) like Milana, Samraksha and Action Aid, launched the protest yesterday against Abbott's decision in Thailand alleging that it would, in the long run, may affect India and the positive people.

Milana Project Coordinator Jyothi Kiran alleged ''Abbott's actions must be condemned by the world. You cannot just bully a country into submission in the way Abbott is doing. Thailand's actions were legal, it is Abbott, which is wrong.'' KNP+ General Secretary, Asha Ramaiah said ''The reality was that affordable generic versions of medicines are the only hope we have for life-long treatment. Abbott's greed is not just shocking, it is immoral. People's lives are at stake.'' In the last few months, the Thai government has issued three compulsory licenses on lopinavir+ritonavir (Brand name-Kaletra), Clopidogrel bisulphate (Brand name-Plavix, an anti clotting agent) and Effavirenz (Brand name- Stocrin) for the procurement of affordable generic drugs to protect the health interests of its people.

The Thai government's actions were in full compliance with national and international legal provisions. The action was necessary to ensure access to quality care and treatment for all the Thai people suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In retaliation for the compulsory license on lopinavir+ritonavir, patent holder Abbott Laboratories had withdrawn registration applications in Thailand for seven of its medicines. Effectively this means that Abbott was withholding those medicines from the Thai market.

With this retributive act, Abbott had not only punished the Thai government for daring to adopt legal measures to access affordable drugs for its people, but also revealed its utter disregard for the lives of millions of Thai people, desperate for life-saving drugs.

Most significantly, Abbott has sent out an unequivocal message to developing countries that it will use its might to prevent the entry of generic drugs into the markets of developing countries.

''Big pharmaceutical companies like Abbott are holding countries and patients across Asia to ransom for asserting their right to provide health care to their citizens. This is totally unacceptable.

When production of life saving medicines remains solely in the hands of a single pharmaceutical company, it blocks the generic competition that is needed to bring prices down'', alleged Anand Grover, Director of the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit.

Most of the people suffering from HIV (whose CD count is less) depend on the life-enhancing ART drugs, the only available treatment for them. ART, a combination of three drugs, is very costly. The union government was providing ART free of cost.

UNI