ELCA NEWS SERVICE
February 15, 2007
Lutheran Leaders Join Call to Protect India's Drug Patent Laws
07-022-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the Rev. Ishmael Noko,
LWF general secretary, have joined other Christian leaders asking
the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis to drop its law suit
challenging the patent laws of India.
"This case is about commitment to the right to health,"
Hanson said. "It is about the responsibility of governments to
protect the health of their citizens and the right of countries
to give priority to public health over the private interests of
corporations."
India refused Novartis' patent application for a cancer
medicine, Gleevec, on the grounds that the medicine was simply a
new form of an old medicine. India's law states it is not
possible to patent "the mere discovery of a new form of a known
substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known
efficacy of that substance," according to a news release from the
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), Geneva, Switzerland.
Novartis challenged the decision, the law and India's
handling of international trade rules on intellectual property.
Where Novartis has a patent for Gleevec, it sells for $2,600
per patient per month, according to the EAA release. In India,
generic versions of the drug sell for less than $200 per patient
per month, it said.
"Novartis' proclaimed mission is 'to ease suffering and to
enhance the quality of life,' but this case is not about
prioritizing life. It has every appearance of protecting wealthy
corporate interests at the expense of the health of millions for
whom access to affordable medicines is a matter of life and
death," said Noko, Geneva.
The decision in this case will affect access to thousands of
other medicines in India, including anti-retroviral (ARV)
medicines to treat HIV, the EAA said. Medicines manufactured in
India are imported by many developing countries. More than half
the medicines currently used for HIV and AIDS treatment in
developing countries come from India, it said.
Dr. Prawate Khid-arn, general secretary, Christian
Conference of Asia, Muang, Thailand, said, "Patent applications
have been made in India for many second-line ARVs. However many
of the applications are based on existing chemical entities.
They are, therefore, 'new forms of known substances,' just like
Gleevec," he said.
"This case is not just about patenting one drug in India,"
said Albert Petersen, chair, Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network
(EPN), Nairobi, Kenya. "The result of the court case will be of
great importance for the future of Thailand's health program.
The fear is that Thailand won't be able to get the generic
versions from India any more if Novartis wins, and it will take
time until the Thai pharmaceutical industry is able to fill that
gap," he said.
"People, not profits, must be at the center of patent law
for medicines," said the Most Rev. Desmond Tutu, Anglican
archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, Southern Africa.
"How can Novartis justify asking for the right to patent
changes to a medicine that bring no new benefit?" asked the Most
Rev. Yvon Ambroise, chair, Commission for Justice, Peace and
Development, Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Thoothukudi.
"We support practices that encourage and reward real innovation
and progress in improving the health of people in need. We
condemn practices that trivialize innovation for the sake of
maximizing corporate profits," he said.
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The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is an international network
of churches and Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy
on global trade and HIV and AIDS. Its home page is at
http://www.e-alliance.ch/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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