Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - September 13, 2004
Anjira Assavanonda
The groups said the government should change the law so it complies with the Aug 30, 2003 Doha Declaration on Trips (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and Public Health.
In November 2001, the WTO ministerial conference in Doha allowed governments to override patents through "compulsory licensing" or "parallel imports" as provided for under Trips.
The declaration pointed to a final hurdle: the effective use of compulsory licensing by countries unable to produce their own drugs.
The Doha meeting removed this obstacle by agreeing to a case-by-case system for waiving the export limitation under Trips so countries producing generic copies of patented products under compulsory licences can export them to "eligible importing countries."
Jiraporn Limpananont, of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of pharmaceutical science, said the international mechanism already allowed developing countries to use waivers to help their people, but first a national law was needed to comply with the Doha agreement.
"The agreement was settled for a year already, yet there is no legislative move," said Ms Jiraporn. "We remind the government of its responsibility to change the law for the sake of the public."
The groups earlier proposed an amendment to article 51 of the Patent Act. If successful, Thailand would be able to import generic drugs to help treatment of Aids, cancer and heart diseases, and be able to export locally-made drugs to neighbouring countries.
"Since the prime minister made his promise to the global community that he would provide access to ARVs for all Aids patients here, and would offer help to neighbouring countries, he should do something to keep his word," said Ms Jiraporn.
About one million Thais are living with HIV/Aids, and of the 100,000 classified as patients, only about 5% receive anti-retroviral drugs.
Assoc Prof Phijaisakdi Horayangkura, of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of law, said the groups should push the government to issue an executive decree instead. The HIV/Aids problem could be considered an emergency, justifying such a short-track measure, he said.
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