The November 2011 edition of AEFJN's Forum for Action is now online. It contains articles on the ethical responsibility of the Church on the climate issue, on the clean up of the Ogoniland oil spills, which will take decades, on the spread of Libyan arms in the Sahel, on the production of medicines in Africa and on the EU's attempt to force African countries to sign EPAs.
The national election campaign officially started the 28th October in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), exactly one month ahead of historic presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for November 28 2011. 41 humanitarian and human rights organizations, among them AEFJN, have expressed concern about the high political tension and deteriorating security situation. They have called upon all Congolese and international actors involved to take urgent measures to prevent electoral violence, better protect civilians and ensure credible, free and fair elections.100914 Tougher intellectual property rules may harm trade in medicines
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Freer trade could harm India's generic drug business, which supplies the bulk of the AIDS medicines sent to developing countries, a study backed by the drug-purchasing body UNITAID said on Tuesday.
The report, written by a UNITAID official along with experts from Boston University and Harvard, warns that India's generics could cost more and be harder to access if the country has to adhere to stricter intellectual property rules.
It said trade deals India already signed up to, such as the World Trade Organisation intellectual property accord known as TRIPS, have already begun to complicate efforts to get cheap, life-saving drugs to poorer countries.
"The introduction of product patents in India is severely constraining generic competition and supply, particularly for newer medicines," the report found.
"Many free trade agreements that have been concluded or are being negotiated between industrialized and developing countries contain measures that restrict access to medicines."
The study, published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society, said trade talks between India and the European Union include measures that could delay or restrict competition from generic medicines by extending patent terms, requiring data exclusivity and tightening border enforcement rules.
Such moves could drive up prices for India's anti-retroviral treatments, limit dosage options and delay access to newer and better drugs, the report argued.
"Such measures can undermine the international goal to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS interventions."
Set up in 2006 by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and Britain, UNITAID uses proceeds from airfare taxes and donations to fund HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis treatment in poor countries.
Jorge Bermudez, UNITAID's executive secretary, said that 80 percent of the AIDS drugs the group now distributes come from Indian generics manufacturers.
UNITAID says 80 percent of its AIDS drugs come from India
"The findings of this study raise grave concerns for us," he said in a statement. "What we need today is a more flexible approach to scale up treatment and not the opposite."
India's generic drug manufacturers include Cipla Ltd (CIPL.BO), Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (ARBN.BO), Strides Arcolab Ltd (STAR.BO), Dr Reddys Laboratories (REDY.BO) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (RANB.BO). (Editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Mark Heinrich)