PM DOUGLAS CALLS FOR THE REMOVAL OF LEGAL AND POLITICAL BARRIERS THAT PREV
ENT ACCESS TO GENERIC AIDS DRUGS
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (JULY 14TH 2004) - The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has agreed with the French view that developed nations should not draw up bilateral trade deals that force poor nations to give up rights to make cheaper anti-AIDS drugs.
This comes in the wake of a veiled attack on the United States by the French at the UNAIDS International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, which said such deals are “tantamount to blackmail.”
In a statement read to the Conference, French President Jacques Chirac said those deals undermined an international accord that lets poor countries produce the generic drugs required for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas, the CARICOM leader with responsibility for HIV/AIDS policy in the region and who is attending the Bangkok conference, told BBC Caribbean Radio the region does not subscribe to the American policy.
“We believe the drugs should be made available once they are considered to be efficacious, safe and are bringing the required responses we desire,” he said. “We should go after the drugs irrespective of whether they are generics or not, this is the position the Caribbean is taking here.”
In 2002, CARICOM negotiated a deal with pharmaceutical companies which saw the cost of drugs reduced from US$3,000 per patient per annum to US$1400.
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| Two boys at an Orphanage for Children with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic play a selection for St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas during a visit to that Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation to attend an International AIDS Conference at whioch he was the Featured Speaker. |
More recently, a deal with the Clinton Foundation has enabled the region to access generic drugs for US$130 per patient.
Prime Minister Douglas said despite the reduction in the cost of the drugs, only a limited number of AIDS sufferers in the region have access to the drugs.
“We still only have about ten percent of the AIDS patients in the Caribbean who are on treatment. That is totally unacceptable,” he said. “Our fight here is to ensure that there is much more money being made available so that more of our people can receive the require treatment.”
Dr. Douglas told BBC Caribbean Radio the ideal scenario would be for the removal of legal and political barriers that currently prevent access to generics.
“It would be good to have a commitment from the pharmaceutical companies that they will not continue to exercise their legal rights so that countries that already have contractual arrangements with them can enter into new arrangements in the acquisition of cheaper generic drugs for those that are suffering from AIDS.”
United Nations Secretary General His Excellency Kofi Annan has urged Washington to show the same commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS as to the war on terror.
Mr. Annan expressed disappointment that some of the US$15 billion earmarked by United States President, the Hon. George W. Bush to tackle HIV/AIDS was not yet going to the global fund - the body set up to raise money for AIDS programmes.
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader agreed with Mr. Annan and also expressed frustration at the difficulty the Caribbean has experienced in accessing money from the global fund.
“They still continue to use per capita income and human development as two indices for determining whether a country can access the fund,” he said.
“Because many of us are countries that have been described as medium income countries, they are telling us that we do not have access because of our high per capita income and we are saying this is unfair.”
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| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Doulas, United States Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress, the Hon. Donna Christian-Christensen and an official from the Clinton Foundation visit the only Orphanage for Children with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic while attending an International AIDS Conference. |
Prime Minister Douglas said if more of the richer countries put money into the fund, the rules might be relaxed to allow access to the fund based on the prevalence of the disease rather than on development indicators.
