On the road to Liberty

Patents are often blamed for most of the problems afflicting the health care system. In this article published in the Montreal Gazette, on 21 April 2008, I point out that " Patents are not the problem " . By focusing on patents rather than the wider ills that seriously affect healthcare service to the poor, we will not help improve the lot of the ordinary patients. Thailand's health minister recently announced that the nation's state-run drug manufacturer, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, would continue to violate the patents on four key cancer drugs. Health activists around the world applauded the move, apparently believing that intellectual property rights are an obstacle to bringing medicine to the world's poorest and sickest citizens. But drug patents and drug prices aren't the main obstacle to Third World patients seeking treatment. The truth is that even if medicine were completely free, most developing nations lack the infrastructure to de...

Dr R A Mashelkar, one of India's leading science administrators resigned from a government technical committee, last week, in wake of personal and politically motivated attacks from certain quarters. In this article, " Something patently wrong ", published in the Hindustan Times, on 20 March 2007, I look at the misguided debate over ever-greening of patents, when there are much more serious problems faced by patients in India. Last Sunday, Indians woke up to mourn the unexpected loss of its team to Bangladesh in India’s first World Cup match. The news that ought to wake up the nation is the situation that led to the resignation of RA Mashelkar from the technical committee formed to look into India’s patent law. Mashelkar resigned because of personal attacks and political machinations. Among his critics were political activists who put their populist agenda ahead of the country’s interest, and social activists who make a career in perpetuating ill-health. Mashelkar is one...

While on a trip to South-East Asian countries, I found that many are looking at India for health care policies. There is a belief among many, that with 97% of medicines in the Indian market being generic, and prices quite low, Indians must be enjoying a very good health. In this article, "How healthy is our health care system?" I look at the grim reality facing patients in India. International perceptions of India have been radically changing over the last few years, whether for her higher economic growth rate, the extraordinary rise of her IT sector or her potential as an emerging super-power. However, during recent trips to south-east Asia, this writer suddenly became aware of yet another perception of India. From Thailand to Malaysia to Philippines and Indonesia, it seems many people in Asia are looking at India as a model for health-care policy. This came as a surprise, given that commentators in India are generally united in the belief that the two areas where India fac...

My IPN press release titled Governments Restrict Access to Healthcare and Prevent Medicine Development was publishedon International Policy Network on March 23rd 2006. London: 50 per cent of people in parts of Africa and Asia have no access to medicines due to harmful government policies, reports the Civil Society Report on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Health. The document produced by 16 civil society organizations from around the world, is being released ahead of a report on a similar theme from the World Health Organization. Examples of harmful government interventions identified in the report are: Taxes and tariffs of up to 55 per cent on imported medicines price people out of treatment. Byzantine and costly registration requirements mean many medicines already approved in the US, EU and Japan are simply not registered in most poor countries because manufacturers cannot justify the investment in registration. Health insurance is hampered by government regulations, so the ...

The present debate over the Indian patent law has done a disservice to the poor patients by shifting the focus away from the more sickness that afflicts the health care system in India. Its not patents but the government hold on the health care sector that is preventing the poor from gaining access to medicines. A version of this article titled "Patients, not Patents, need to be at heart of the health care debate" has appeared in The Indian Express , January 28, 2004 The present debate over the Indian patent law, despite the passion, is underscored by the desire to score political points. Consequently, most of the arguments have been disconnected from reality. India has been a proving ground for those who oppose patents on pharmaceutical products. We scrapped all product patents in 1972. As a result, India is now home to over 20,000 pharmaceutical companies producing copies of drugs developed and patented elsewhere. However, access to medicines remains poor suggesting that p...