A medical humanitarian agency is warning that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) could mean drug prices will go up, and that could lead to more suffering and death for millions of people in developing countries. The TPP is an agreement to between 12 Pacific Rim countries including Canada that has yet to be ratified by each national government.
‘Abusive protections…for pharmaceutical companies’
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), called Doctors Without Borders in English, says there are chapters in the agreement which would force countries to adopt “abusive intellectual property protections” for pharmaceutical companies.
“There is a chapter…that contains a variety of provisions that will lengthen and strengthen the protection for pharmaceutical companies to have a monopolistic protection, therefore will delay access to price-lowering competition and…allow prices to remain high for longer periods of time,” says Judit Rius, a legal policy advisor with MSF.
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Effects could be ‘catastrophic,’ says MSF
Generic drug makers would have more obstacles to creating existing and new products, and that could be “catastrophic,” says Rius. “The impact is going to be basically unnecessary delay of essential medical care or even impossible access to essential medical care.
Prices ‘are already quite expensive’
“It will be that prices of medicines and vaccines that are already quite expensive in the developing countries where MSF works are going to be higher,” she adds.
‘Death and suffering’
This says Rius would have a negative health impact on the lives of millions of people. “There’s going to be less essential medical tools that they will…have access to. That’s going mean unnecessary death and suffering for millions.”
Canada has not yet ratified TPP
MSF is calling on countries to change the TPP agreement to change the enhance protections for pharmaceutical companies, and if they can’t do that to reject the agreement entirely.
Canadians elected a new government on October 19, 2015. It has promised to re-examine the TPP agreement and hold public hearings before ratifying it.