February 17, 2003: African Trade Ministers participating in the on-going World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations have a duty to denounce any agreement, which could threaten public health or undermine access to generic versions of essential drugs on the continent.

Making the call in a statement released to the press today, Treatment Action Movement (TAM), a coalition of Nigerian civil society actors on access to treatment and care, said the discussions at the WTO meeting hold great significance for access to healthcare in many developing countries.

“Access to essential medicines is of paramount concern to us and we believe the poorest sectors in our society need to get the lifesaving medicines. This is simply a matter of life and death. Any attempt to restrict this through the signing of restrictive agreements will be suicidal”, the movement said in a statement signed on its behalf by Mrs. Rolake Nwagwu and Ms. Olayide Akanni.

TAM, whose membership comprises of PLWHA support groups, care providers, media professionals and human rights activists also called on the Ministers to ensure that an agreement which upholds the letter and spirit of the Doha declaration - an agreement that supports the right of countries to protect public health and promote access to medicines for all - is reached.

“African countries have the right to determine what constitutes a public health problem in their own territories, and which diseases warrant waiving of intellectual property rights, particularly when the only available drugs are under patent and tend to be very expensive”, the statement said.

The movement called on African negotiators at the meeting to devise a truly workable solution that considers the following important points:

• Reject limits on when a country can utilize the "right to export: Years ago the WTO upheld the right of a country to produce generic drugs in order the protect public health. The "right to export" should also be when public health is threatened, rather than specifying only in cases "national emergencies or other circumstances of extreme urgency" or only for epidemics, etc.

• Reject disease restrictions: It is critical for all countries that essential medicines and public health is not redefined to only include HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and "tropical diseases." Countries should be allowed to decide for themselves what is a threat to public health, not wealthy governments or even the WHO.

• Reject geographic limitations: “We are concerned that some negotiators are trying to limit the right to export to only the poorest of the poor when it should be for any country that lacks the capacity to produce a certain drug”

• Reject exclusion of vaccines or other essential public health tools: Vaccines, diagnostic, and monitoring tests are important medical technologies for developing countries. They should not be excluded from any solution

• Reject burdensome ‘safeguards’: Low-cost generic medicines meant for consumption in poor countries should not be diverted to rich country markets. Any new burden of monitoring borders and guarding against flow of medicines from poor to rich country markets should be borne by the rights holder and by rich countries, not by countries where the product was intended to be consumed

• Reject unworkable mechanisms: Countries in need of affordable medicines must be able to use any new mechanism quickly and easily. A mechanism that will require multiple compulsory licenses, long delays, and substantial administrative burden are not acceptable.

TAM specifically called on Nigeria’s Commerce Minister, Mr. Precious Ngalele and that of Health, Professor Alphonsus Nwosu to ensure that the country’s representatives at the WTO negotiations join other African ministers in ensuring that African peoples do not lose out at the meeting.

Olayide Akanni
Advocacy Officer
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Email: larayide@yahoo.co.uk