NAIROBI, July 24 (HANA)--A coalition of civil society organizations spearheading fight against Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, on Monday urged lawmakers to reject the proposed amendments to the Industrial Property Act (IP), which they said would hamper efforts to place more patients of life prolonging drugs.
Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, the activists said the amendments could raise the price of drugs, including anti-retroviral (ARVs) for people living with HIV/Aids and other serious diseases, making medicines far out of reach for majority of poor Kenyans.
“If these amendments are passed, they will seriously affect our ability to access the medicines we need and Kenya will be taking a giant step backwards in the right against HIV, TB, malaria and other health emergency,” said Dr. Ignatius Kibe, a pharmacist and member of the coalition.
Dr. Kibe said some amendments are seeking to block the importation of parallel drugs, which meant the country would not have access to cheap drugs.
According to the changes, the government must buy a drug from the local market even if the same is going for as low as half the price in a neighboring country.
But the present law allows the government to import drugs from any country if it is expensive in the local market.
“If our Members of Parliament pass these amendments, Kenya will witness a drastic increase in prices for various drugs. There will be an enormous increase in prices of medicines for HIV, and other serious disease, making medicines far out of the reach of majority of Kenyans,” Dr.Kibe added.
The activists said the proposed amendments would force the government and their procurement agencies to first get consent from the medicine’s patent holder before “shopping around the world” for the best price and importing that medicines into Kenya.
“It is obvious that both of these would be huge challenges, and would cause unnecessary delays for procurement processes, higher prices, and limit the government’s ability to efficiently respond to the needs of Kenyans,” said Dr. John Wesonga, a medical doctor involved in the fight against HIV.
“Amendments to this Act would be very dangerous because it would hamper efforts to put people on the life saving drugs. It will also reverse gains Kenya has made in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria,” Dr. Wesonga added.
According to the local Industrial Property Act (IP Act), a manufacturer owns the patent for 20 years before any other company could produce the product.
Currently, the east African nation has about 140,000 people on ARVs while the government is treating some for free.
It costs about 4,500 shillings to treat one HIV/Aids patient per month using patented drugs while this can go down to 1,500 shillings using a six-doze generic drug.
Dr. Wasonga said procurement of drugs would be delayed if the law is changed.
The groups said the Act complied with the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips), which outlines the minimum standards for patent protection that member States should incorporate into their local laws.
But the civil society groups also wondered why the government took the amendments to Parliament yet a Ministry of Health task force formed to study them had rejected them.
“We cannot play with peoples lives. Nobody wants to be sick. We urge our Members of Parliament to look again at the amendments and to reject them,” said Ludfine Anyango of ActionAid International.
“We as the Kenyan health Civil Society Organizations and Persons Living with HIV, in solidarity with all Kenyan citizens, are protesting against the attempt to assault on our lives,” said Monique Wanjala of WOFAK (Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya).
“If they (lawmakers) pass the amendments to IP Act, Kenya’s treatment programs are at risk, and Kenyans’ lives are at risk,” Wanjala added.
Attempts by the government to introduce the same amendments were thwarted in parliament in 2002 as being against the interests of Kenyans.
The Miscellaneous Amendments Bill had its second reading in Parliament last week and if it goes through, the activists said, 32 million Kenyan lives will be in the balance. Enditem
