 "MSF displayed large billboards in New York during PM Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US")
Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has expressed its displeasure over the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact, which was concluded yesterday, as MSF feels that TPP will raise the price of medicines for millions by unnecessarily extending monopolies and further delaying price-lowering generic competition.
“The big losers in the TPP are patients and treatment providers in developing countries. Although the text has improved over the initial demands, the TPP will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries, which will be forced to change their laws to incorporate abusive intellectual property protections for pharmaceutical companies,” said Judit Rius Sanjuan, US manager & legal policy adviser, MSF Access Campaign, in a statement.
For example, Sanjuan said, the additional monopoly protection provided for biologic drugs will be a new regime for all TPP developing countries. These countries will pay a heavy price in the decades to come that will be measured in the impact it has on patients.
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On October 5, 2015, the US, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations reached final agreement on TPP, the largest regional trade accord in history, after years of negotiations. Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is likely to affect 40 percent of the global economy, could influence the prices of everything from agri-produce to medicines.
“As the trade agreement now goes back to the national level for countries’ final approval, we urge all governments to carefully consider before they sign on the dotted line whether this is the direction they want to take on access to affordable medicines and the promotion of biomedical innovation. The negative impact of the TPP on public health will be enormous, be felt for years to come, and will not be limited to the current 12 TPP countries, as it is a dangerous blueprint for future agreements,” added Sanjuan in the statement.
