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    India-EU Pact 'Threatens Millions Of Lives'

    HIV activists in India claim a new trade treaty with the European Union will threaten the lives of millions of people around the world who rely on generic medicines for their survival.

    At present, India has a reputation for being the pharmacy of the developing world.

    The country's drug companies frequently ignore the patents of pharmaceutical giants and make cheap copies of their medicines.

    The medicines are then exported around the world to people in poor countries who would never be able to afford the branded versions.

    But campaigners claim a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being negotiated between the EU and the Indian government could end the practice.

    The FTA will give India cheaper access to European goods and markets, but in return it is claimed the country will have to show greater respect for the intellectual property rights of drug companies - or face prosecution.

    Loon Gangte, who lives in Delhi and has HIV, is worried about the future.

    He currently relies on generic drugs but fears if better medicines become available he will not be able to get a generic version and a branded version will be unaffordable.

    At present he pays £130 a year for his treatment but claims a branded version of his anti-retroviral drugs will cost nearly £7,000.

    He said: "The FTA is criminal. It will kill millions of people because of the EU and drug companies' greed.

    "The new system will be simple: if you are rich you will live but if you are poor you will die," he added.

    Pierangelo Gandini, head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres in India, said the proposed agreement would be a disaster for the world's poorest people.

    He said: "It is not only people with HIV - which in India is nearly three million people alone - but it will also affect people with cancer, diabetes and hypertension.

    "The price of drugs will just go up as new drugs will be protected by a cast iron patent," he added.

    The EU claims the agreement will not affect access to drugs but campaigners remain unconvinced.

    They have been staging rallies on every continent and have vowed to continue their fight, claiming the FTA in its current form is a death sentence for the world's poorest people.

     

    3 comments

    • AG  •  Weybridge, England  •  3 months ago
      When it's life-saving drugs and technology mankind has a right to it
      • From Luddite Lodge 3 months ago
        So who pays for it? If private companies don't develop these drugs its down to governments to develop them at tax-payers cost. Then we pass them on to the third world as a form of overseas aid.
    • Sir Percy Vere  •  3 months ago
      We really must go into more debt and increase our annual bribe to India.
    • Cormac  •  3 months ago
      I don't mean to sound callus but the only reason these anti retro-viral drugs exist is because the big brand drug companies invest huge amounts of money into the research and development of these drugs so if there ideas are just being stolen they don't make the money to invest into newer drugs.

      I do note that these companies make large profits but if they didn't they wouldn't exist