page 14

issue 103
august 2003   

Doctor from Médicins Sans Frontières takes skin sample from a Peruvian man suffering from leishmaniasis; AIDS patient in Kenya

a bitter pill

blocking the supply of essential medicines

“Our combined strength enabled us to establish a global private sectorgovernment
network which laid the foundation for what became TRIPS.”
Edmund Pratt, Former Pfizer CEO

“I’m tired of the logic that says: ‘He who can’t pay, dies.”
Dr. James Orbinski, International President of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

Every day, tens of thousands of people suffer from treatable illnesses like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease and pneumonia. The WTO’s TRIPS agreement forms a significant barrier to the provision of essential medicines that would save many lives in developing countries.

tripping people up
The TRIPS, or Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, was adopted largely as a result of lobbying by US corporations, particularly those in the pharmaceutical sector, which were anxious to protect their profits by blocking the distribution of cheap ‘generic’ drugs.

So-called ‘generic’ drugs are copies of the patented ‘brand name’ drugs developed and patented by pharmaceutical companies. By enforcing a 20-year patent protection period for pharmaceuticals, the TRIPS agreement means that cheap drugs are inaccessible to those who need them. Treatment is more expensive, and the chances of managing or curing disease, especially amongst the poorest, is therefore much reduced.

Following widespread protest about this policy by civil society and developing country officials, WTO member countries agreed at the 2001 Ministerial in Doha to a compromise that would override patents to make medicines more widely available. Since then, however, powerful governments -- particularly the United States – have backtracked, working to undermine this agreement. A look behind the scenes reveals that drug companies and pharmaceutical lobby groups are using their enormous influence to retain control over the provision of medicine.

Echoing the cries of the pharmaceutical lobby, the US government is arguing that patents should only be overridden in the case of a ‘public health crisis’. In effect, this is welcome news for those needing drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Pneumonia, however, which kills over one million people each year in Africa and for which a vaccine for children has been registered in the United States, could be exempt if the US government and corporate lobby groups succeed in restricting the number of diseases for which generic drugs are available. Similarly, drugs for cardiovascular disease, the third biggest killer in Africa, would not be covered. Pfizer makes huge profits from its patent protected cardiovascular drugs: Lipitor, for instance, is the world’s largest selling drug and has annual sales exceeding US$6 billion dollars.

behind the bitter pill
Drug companies have developed a sophisticated and highly effective web of influence, both in the United States and globally. The basis of their power is their growing economic weight: the combined worth of the world’s top five drug companies is twice the combined GNP of all sub-Saharan Africa.

Pfizer is one of the biggest players in the pharmaceutical industry, which is widely considered the most influential industry lobby in Washington. In 2000, the company spent US$3.4 million on direct lobbying of the US government, and Pharmacia, the company with which Pfizer subsequently merged, spent US$3.7 million. Pfizer enjoys close access to key WTO decision makers, and Pfizer CEO Henry McKinnell met with WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi and South African Minister for Trade and Industry Alec Erwin at the 2003 World Economic Forum in Davos to negotiate a “solution” to the access to medicine issue.

In addition, Pfizer is a major player in PhRMA, the extremely powerful US pharmaceuticals industry lobby group, which spent US$7.4 million dollars lobbying the US government in 2000. Pfizer CEO Henry McKinnelI was chair of the PhRMA Board in 2001 and 2002 and is currently co-chairman of the US Business Roundtable and on the Board of Directors of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Not surprisingly, Pfizer and PhRMA were closely involved in the shaping of the TRIPS agreement. As former Pfizer CEO Edmund Pratt stated, “Our combined strength enabled us to establish a global private sectorgovernment network which laid the foundation for what became TRIPS.” The US government position that eventually became the basis for TRIPS did indeed bear a striking similarity to the wishes of the industry lobby groups.

The clear winners from this agreement so far are the transnational drug companies, which have been able to steer WTO policies through their influence in Washington and Geneva. The quiet tragedy, however, is that millions of people in poor countries continue to suffer needlessly due to their lack of access to affordable medicine.

more information:
Campaign For Access to Essential Medicines, Médicins Sans Frontières: www.accessmed-msf.org/index.asp
“Formula for Fairness: Patient Rights Before Patent Rights”, Oxfam America: www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/art793.html
The Centre for Public Integrity: www.opensecrets.org