The Life Trade Organization: Negotiating Access To Medicines And The Enjoyment Of Human Rights For All Members Of The Human Family

By Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro

"One person is infected with HIV every 6.4 seconds. Without treatment ½ of all children with HIV/AIDS in developing countries will die before their second birthday"

Health is a fundamental human right, indispensable for the exercise of other rights. Access to medicine is critical to protect this right, particularly in the context of endemic diseases.

Expanded protection for TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) allows pharmaceuticals 20 years minimum, to monopolize production, supply, distribution and prices - by virtue or exclusivity, of their patented inventions. The high prices maintained ensure that medication isn´t affordable to those who need it most; in essence, putting profit before the right to health; life!

The Doha Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health reaffirmed countries´ abilities to use flexibilities permitted by TRIPs to increase access to medicines. However, flexibilities achieved in the multilateral context have been undermined by more restrictive TRIPS plus (TRIPs+) rules in bilateral and regional trade agreements. Further, the December 6th decision, that makes August 30th 2003 waiver permanent, only introduces more restrictive cumbersome mechanisms, that no developing country so far, has been able to use successfully.

An estimated 90 percent of people requiring ARVs have no access to treatment. Approximately half of the developing worlds ARVs are generic fixed-dose combinations. They greatly simplify administration of ARVs and have been critical in increasing treatment in resource-poor settings. The real impact of the full implementation of TRIPS+ in India, the largest producer of generic drugs, and other developing countries will become apparent in coming years as large numbers of patients currently on treatment are forced to switch to newer, more effective, patented second-line medicines which are 4 to 10 times more expensive than first-line treatments.

TRIPs must be human-rights-consistent and development-orientated, maximizing health benefits, minimizing risks, especially for poor and vulnerable populations. By understanding how the international trading system and international human rights framework operate we can advocate within these complex systems to fight the proliferation of TRIPS+ rules and ensure that they don´t go against the primacy of health over trade.

HIV/AIDS is changing civilizations forever; ravaging continents' demographics; hacking away more than 20 years of hard gains made in education, food security and socio-economic development; making our families poorer, and setting into motion a vicious circle of poverty - HIV/AIDS – poverty. Affordable medication is not a panacea for the HIV/AIDS crisis, but will continue to be the foundation of any meaningful effort to save millions of lives. Do your part. Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise! Trade Justice Now!