UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT WELCOMES CANADIAN INITIATIVE ON ACCESS TO LOW-COST DRUGS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT WELCOMES CANADIAN INITIATIVE

ON ACCESS TO LOW-COST DRUGS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 7 November (UN Information Service) -- Canada has taken an important step towards improving the right to health in developing countries by introducing draft legislation to make it easier for poor countries to import generic, lower-cost drugs, a United Nations human rights expert said today.

Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right to health of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, welcomed the bill introduced by the Canadian Government in the country’s Parliament yesterday to amend the Patent Act and Food and Drugs Act, saying access to affordable medicines was essential to the right to health of people in developing and developed countries. 

“Under international human rights law”, he said, “governments have a responsibility to provide international assistance and cooperation.  The Canadian initiative is an important example of how developed countries can help to improve access to medicines to fight diseases in poor countries.” 

Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, member States may allow third parties to manufacture and sell pharmaceutical products, for domestic use, at a lower price without the authorization of the patent holder.  On 30 August 2003, the WTO decided that countries producing generic copies of patented drugs under compulsory licence could now export drugs to countries with no or little drug manufacturing capacity.  The proposed changes to Canada’s Patent Act and Food and Drugs Act would effectively put the WTO decision into practice by making it easier for Canadian pharmaceutical companies to export their products. 

“I am pleased to note that the proposed amendment to Canadian patent law is not restricted to a narrow range of diseases”, said the Special Rapporteur.  He urged, however, that the amendments not be limited to a restricted list of drugs.  “The procedures for implementing the new legislation should facilitate the goal of improving access to drugs and promoting public health in developing countries”, he said. 

The Special Rapporteur encouraged all WTO member States to make use of the full range of flexibilities available under international trade law to promote the right to health in developing countries. 

The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to help States, and others, promote and protect the right to health.  For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and copies of available reports, please consult the Web site of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

(http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mhealth.htm).

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