Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStatement by MSF on the Official Release of the Full Text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agr
Statement by MSF on the Official Release of the Full Text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreementpress release. November 05, 2015
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement negotiated between the U.S. and eleven other Pacific Rim nations: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. After more than five years of negotiations conducted in secret without the opportunity for public review, the agreed text, which will now be submitted to national processes for final signature and ratification, has been officially and publicly released. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) remains extremely concerned about the inclusion of dangerous provisions that would dismantle public health safeguards enshrined in international law and restrict access to price-lowering generic medicines for millions of people.
MSF statement by Judit Rius Sanjuan, U.S. manager and legal policy advisor for MSFs Access Campaign:
"MSF remains gravely concerned about the effects that the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal will have on access to affordable medicines for millions of people, if it is enacted. Todays official release of the agreed TPP text confirms that the deal will further delay price-lowering generic competition by extending and strengthening monopoly market protections for pharmaceutical companies.
The TPP is a bad deal for medicine: its bad for humanitarian medical treatment providers such as MSF, and its bad for people who need access to affordable medicines around the world, including in the United States.
At a time when the high price of life-saving medicines and vaccines is increasingly recognized as a barrier to effective medical care, it is very concerning to see that the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies have succeeded in locking in rules that will keep medicine prices high for longer and limit the tools that governments and civil society have to try to increase generic competition.
For example, if enacted, the TPP will not allow national regulatory authorities to use existing data that demonstrates a biological products safety and efficacy to authorize the sale of competitor products, even in the absence of patents. The TPP would also force governments to extend existing patent monopolies beyond current 20-year terms at the request of pharmaceutical companies, and to redefine what type of medicine deserves a patent, including mandating the granting of new patents for modifications of existing medicines.
The provisions in the TPP text will not only raise the price of medicines and cause unnecessary suffering, but they also represent a complete departure from the U.S. governments previous commitments to global health, including safeguards included in the U.S.s 2007 New Trade Policy.
It is not too late to prevent further restrictions on access to affordable medicines in the TPP. As the text now goes to national legislatures for final approval, we urge all TPP governments to carefully consider whether the agreed TPP text reflects the direction they want to take on access to affordable medicines and promotion of biomedical innovation; if it does not, the TPP should be modified or rejected.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/statement-msf-official-release-full-text-trans-pacific-partnership-trade-agreement
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 535 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (10)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Statement by MSF on the Official Release of the Full Text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agr (Original Post)
Sunlei
Nov 2015
OP
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)1. The more I read about it the worse this thing gets
And Hillary's all for it. Nowhere to run.
Maybe the GOP is discintigrating because the dems have stolen their purposes and practices, and they're redundant.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)2. I think the USA will always have medicine price gougers. A positive is DWB asks all the signers
The TPP is a bad deal for medicine: its bad for humanitarian medical treatment providers such as MSF, and its bad for people who need access to affordable medicines around the world, including in the United States.
At a time when the high price of life-saving medicines and vaccines is increasingly recognized as a barrier to effective medical care, it is very concerning to see that the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies have succeeded in locking in rules that will keep medicine prices high for longer and limit the tools that governments and civil society have to try to increase generic competition.
For example, if enacted, the TPP will not allow national regulatory authorities to use existing data that demonstrates a biological products safety and efficacy to authorize the sale of competitor products, even in the absence of patents. The TPP would also force governments to extend existing patent monopolies beyond current 20-year terms at the request of pharmaceutical companies, and to redefine what type of medicine deserves a patent, including mandating the granting of new patents for modifications of existing medicines.
At a time when the high price of life-saving medicines and vaccines is increasingly recognized as a barrier to effective medical care, it is very concerning to see that the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies have succeeded in locking in rules that will keep medicine prices high for longer and limit the tools that governments and civil society have to try to increase generic competition.
For example, if enacted, the TPP will not allow national regulatory authorities to use existing data that demonstrates a biological products safety and efficacy to authorize the sale of competitor products, even in the absence of patents. The TPP would also force governments to extend existing patent monopolies beyond current 20-year terms at the request of pharmaceutical companies, and to redefine what type of medicine deserves a patent, including mandating the granting of new patents for modifications of existing medicines.