Date: 2 March 2011
Source: www.keionline.org

People living with HIV from across Asia who depend on affordable generic AIDS medicines to stay alive will urge the Indian government to stand strong against European Union demands on the sensitive intellectual property (IP) chapter in ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

The EU is pushing for harmful IP provisions to be included in the trade agreement that will hinder access to quality, affordable generic medicines produced in India, the ?pharmacy of the developing world.?  Affordable medicines produced in India have played a major role in scaling up AIDS treatment to more than five million people across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Roughly 2,000 people living with HIV coming from different parts of India and Asia are expected to rally alongside the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health in New Delhi to highlight the grave danger this FTA brings to countless human lives in developing countries by preventing the production, registration and distribution of quality affordable generic medicines.

World Trade Organization rules already obligated India to start granting medicines patents in 2005.  This is preventing production and access to affordable versions of Hepatitis C drugs and the new generation of cancer and HIV/AIDS drugs, some of which have already been patented in India.

At a press conference following the rally, patient groups will share their concerns about the impact of trade agreements on their lives, and will provide technical background on the intellectual property and investment provisions in the proposed FTA.