back to home

back to index for this section

See also other materials on "Pharmaceutical companies"

July-Sep. 2001:

Fury at plan to sell off DNA secrets [UK]: Leak reveals drug companies' demands - Britain's health files 'could be privatised' - The genetic secrets of millions of Britons could be sold off to private drug companies under highly controversial proposals outlined in leaked government documents. (Antony Barnett and Gaby Hinsliff, Observer [UK], 23 Sep. 2001)

Paying the Price [the fight for affordable AIDS drugs in Africa] (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 20 Sep. 2001)

• full transcript of "Paying the Price"

Leaders say eased patent accord could hurt AIDS research: Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry warned yesterday that research and development into AIDS drugs could dry up if global trading rules on patents are loosened. The warning was issued as delegates to the World Trade Organization met to discuss whether the body's TRIPS patents and copyright pact should be amended to make it easier for poor countries to get medicines at low cost. (Robert Evans, Reuters, in Boston Globe, 20 Sep. 2001)

Patents 'threat to Aids drugs': The number of Aids drugs under development has fallen by a third since 1998, a trend that could intensify if global patent protection were weakened, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations warned yesterday. (Frances Williams, Financial Times, 20 Sep. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Drug Firms Say Easing Patent Restrictions Could Hurt Research - Leaders of the international pharmaceutical industry said yesterday that if global trading rules on patents are loosened, it could negatively impact research and development of AIDS drugs. The warnings came during a Geneva meeting of World Trade Organization delegates, who were discussing whether the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should be amended to make it simpler for developing countries to have access to medicines at low cost. The TRIPS accord places strict conditions on when drug patents can be removed. (UN Wire, 20 Sep. 2001)

TRIPS council session on access to medicines: Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières on TRIPS and affordable medicines - MSF calls upon World Trade Organization (WTO) members to support developing countries' proposal to ensure that the multilateral rules on intellectual property do not harm public health. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 19 Sep. 2001)

Drugs Remain Unaffordable - Health Minister [South Africa]: Although pharmaceutical companies cut the price of HIV/AIDS medication, South Africa still could not afford to provide the drugs through the public health system, Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 15 Sep. 2001)

Health Minister to Defend Court Challenge [South Africa]: Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang would defend legal action instituted by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) aimed at ensuring state provision of the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to pregnant HIV positive women countrywide, Health-e News reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 14 Sep. 2001)

A Battle Against Sleeping Sickness: Best Practice / Aventis Pharma - Aventis Pharma, the pharmaceutical arm of Aventis, has teamed up with the World Health Organization in an attempt to conquer a disease that is ravaging some of the poorest, remotest populations in sub-Saharan Africa. (sponsored section, International Herald Tribune and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 13 Sep. 2001)

Doctors Group Helps Spread AIDS Strategy: Doctors Without Borders said today that it was working with Brazil to export the country's successful anti-AIDS program and its locally made AIDS drugs to other developing countries. (Reuters, in New York Times, 13 Sep. 2001) 

HIV/AIDS: Group To Help Export Brazil's Successful Anti-AIDS Program: Medecins Sans Frontieres said yesterday it is working with Brazil to bring the country's domestically produced AIDS drugs and its much lauded anti-AIDS program to other developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. (UN Wire, 13 Sep. 2001)

{português} Brasil exporta tecnologia antiaids para o mundo: Médicos Sem Fronteira vai utilizar conhecimento brasileiro em nações subdesenvolvidas (Nelson Francisco, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 13 setembro 2001)

Nigeria Begins Aids Drug Programme After Delay: After a one week delay from a scheduled 1 September start, Nigerian officials on Friday began an AIDS treatment pilot programme to supply cheap generic antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive citizens, AP reported. Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu was reported as saying that he "would rather have the programme right and the deadline wrong, than vice versa," although he admitted that the generic drugs have not yet been received and the medication administration and tracking system has not been completely developed. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 12 Sep. 2001)

Novartis, Ciba to clean up New Jersey Superfund site: Swiss drug and chemical companies Novartis AG and Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp. have agreed to a $90 million cleanup at a New Jersey Superfund site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week. (Reuters, 12 Sep. 2001) 

Medical Journals Set New Publication Rules: About 12 of the world's most prominent medical journals are issuing a joint editorial this week stating that they will reject any scientific studies that do not come with an assurance that the sponsor -- whether a drug company or other organization -- gave researchers complete access to the data and freedom to report the findings. The unprecedented stand by journals based in eight countries is a response to what editors say is excessive control by drug companies over how the results of studies they sponsor are analyzed, interpreted and reported. "This is a very widely prevalent problem which . . . has profound public health implications," said Richard Horton, editor of the British journal the Lancet, one of the participating journals. In some cases, patients have died because published studies overstated drugs' benefits or minimized their risks, Horton said. (Susan Okie, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2001)

• Drug firms accused of distorting research: Thirteen of the world's leading medical journals today mount an outspoken attack on the rich and powerful drug companies, accusing them of distorting the results of scientific research for the sake of profits. The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and other major journals accuse the drug giants of using their money - or the threat of its removal - to tie up academic researchers with legal contracts so that they are unable to report freely and fairly on the results of drug trials. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 10 Sep. 2001)

• Medical journals get tough on research funded by drug companies (Helen Branswell, Canadian Press, 10 Sep. 2001)

• Banding Together: Medical Journal Editors Strike Cautionary Tone (Jeff Carpenter, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2001)

• Statement by Dr. Bert Spilker, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at PhRMA, in response to new policies by medical journal editors (PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], 7 Sep. 2001)

German Company Begins Shipping Free Doses of AIDS Drug: German pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim has finally come up with a way to act on its offer to provide Viramune free of charge to help African countries prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, the 'Wall Street Journal' reported on Friday. Since the company announced its offer last year, it had been "frustrated" that few countries or health programmes came forward to accept the offer. But according to the Journal, a new application process developed by Dublin-based Axios International "addresses several major stumbling blocks that have impeded access to Viramune". (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 10 Sep. 2001)

Nigeria to Launch Africa's First Generic Anti-AIDS Drugs Trials: In what has been considered as a breakthrough on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Nigeria is set to launch the first trial treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, with imported generic antiretroviral drugs, reported AFP on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 8 Sep. 2001)

Outdoors "Pharming" of Drugs Risks Contamination: Open field trials of genetically engineered (GE) rice containing human genes are being carried out in the heart of the California's traditional rice growing region, according to Greenpeace..."There is just no excuse to allow drug producing crops to be grown out in the fields where they can contaminate the environment and food chain by spreading their genes to wild relative and to conventional crops growing nearby..." said Kimberly Wilson, Genetic Engineering Campaigner for Greenpeace USA. According to the information submitted by the company Applied Phytologics Incorporated (API) to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), eight of the nine compounds produced in its field trial come from humans, in other words from rice engineered with human genes. The USDA imposes virtually no safety requirements specific to pharmaceutical crops. (Greenpeace, 7 Sep. 2001)

• company website: Applied Phytologics, Inc.

Programme to Supply AIDS Drugs Delayed: A Nigerian pilot programme that would provide cheap antiretrovirals to people living with HIV/AIDS did not begin on 1 September as planned, Reuters reported last week. Largely seen as the most ambitious generic AIDS treatment programme, the pilot project plans to provide 10,000 adults and 5,000 children with generic copies of antiretroviral drugs. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 5 Sep. 2001)

Bio-pirates stalk Borneo tribes' treasure trove: Mark Bujang of the Borneo Resources Institute says the East Malaysian state's natives are in danger of having their indigenous savvy ripped off by so-called "bio-pirates"...He says his institute wants Sarawak's multitude of native groups to share in the benefits of any treatments born from what they have known for generations. (Patrick Chalmers, Reuters, 5 Sep. 2001)

Pfizer suit adds to pressure on industry: The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 30 Nigerian families, alleges Pfizer violated their human rights when it set up a clinic to give Trovan, an experimental antibiotic, to 200 children during a meningitis epidemic that swept the north of the country in 1996. Lawsuits have already been filed in Nigeria, but last week, in a sign the company may face far greater damages, the first suit was filed in the US. The families say Pfizer did not obtain "informed consent" before administering the treatment. (Adrian Michaels and David Firn, Financial Times, 2 Sep. 2001) 

Swiss business and human rights: Confrontations and partnerships with NGOs [refers to Nestlé, Novartis, UBS, Credit Suisse, ABB, Coop, Migros, Switcher, Veillon] (Antoine Mach, study commissioned by Antenna International, Sep. 2001) note: scroll down on the linked page - this report appears under the "Documents" sub-heading for downloading in English or French

• {···français} Entreprises suisses et droits de l'homme: Confrontations et partenariats avec les ONG [référence à Nestlé, Novartis, UBS, Credit Suisse, ABB, Coop, Migros, Switcher, Veillon] (Antoine Mach, Sep. 2001)

Patents and Access to Medicines: Oxfam's recent UK Parliamentary briefing on how WTO patent rules are reducing access to medicines in developing countries proposed that the UK government support three measures:

• a substantive review by member states of the health and development impacts of the WTO agreement on intellectual property (TRIPS) 
• a pact among member states not to initiate disputes with developing countries until this review has been completed, and to allow longer transition periods for compliance 
• amendments to the agreement to allow developing countries to retain the right to make or import the cheaper generic medicines they need (Oxfam, Sep. 2001)

HIV positive: Mark Heywood has been involved in the liberation struggle in South Africa all his "conscious" life. Now he has turned his attention to the fight against HIV/AIDS - "TAC [Treatment Action Campaign] is building a network among communities, seeking to transform the South African health service, and campaigning against patent abuse, whereby prices set by drugs companies are too high for most people to afford."  (Mark Heywood, National Secretary of Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, in Oxfam Campaigner, Sep. 2001)

Brazil and Roche agree deal on Aids drug price cut: Brazil has agreed with Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, on a substantial cut in the price of an Aids drug after the government last week said it would override its patent. Roche agreed to the government's demand of a 40 per cent reduction on the price of Nelfinavir as of 2002, José Serra, health minister, said on Friday. (Raymond Colitt, Financial Times, 31 Aug. 2001)

Bringing the pharmaceuticals industry to its senses [letter to the editor]: Sir, Your editorial "Patent nonsense" (August 24) says it would be "a bad precedent" for Brazil to "set aside" Roche's patent. We disagree. This is an important precedent that will bring a myopic industry to its senses. (Phil Bloomer, Director, Cut the Cost Campaign, Oxfam, and Dr Bernard Pecoul, Director, Access to Medicines Campaign, Medecins Sans Frontières, in Financial Times, 30 Aug. 2001)

• Patent nonsense: government attacks on pharmaceuticals companies' patent rights - and campaigners' attempts to demonise them - are not the way forward. The hope of finding new drugs such as a vaccine for Aids depends on the research and the profits that patent laws protect.  (leader/editorial, Financial Times, 24 Aug. 2001)

Department Stalls On Deal for Free Anti-Aids Drug [South Africa]: The government is offering free nevirapine to pregnant HIV-positive women in at least two health facilities in all nine provinces in an attempt to reduce the transmission of HIV to their babies. The government is paying for the drug though Boehringer Ingelheim offered to supply it free more than a year ago. Health Department spokeswoman Ms Jo-Anne Collinge said there had been talks between Boehringer Ingelheim and her department. She expected an agreement soon. (The Sowetan [Johannesburg], 29 Aug. 2001)

WHO Director-General proposes a ground-breaking health and ethics initiative: Speaking at the African Regional Committee meeting in Brazzaville, WHO Director-General, Gro Harlem Brundtland, proposed the establishment of a WHO Health Ethics Initiative. The cross-WHO initiative would focus on ethics in public health, health research, and biotechnology, including genome related work, stem cell research and cloning. (World Health Organization, 28 Aug. 2001)

• {···français: Lors de l'allocution donnée au Comité régional de l'Afrique à Brazzaville, le Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Directeur général de l'OMS, a proposé une initiative sur la santé et l'éthique.}

Africa may skirt patent to get drugs: Lost amid the noisy fighting over access to AIDS drugs in the poor world lies a startling fact: The vast majority of the medicines are not protected by patents in Africa, leaving no legal barrier for most cheap knockoff drugs to enter the markets. A survey now underway of multinational pharmaceutical companies has found that 84 percent of AIDS drugs are not under patent protection in Africa....the survey's findings are likely to give producers and African health ministers more confidence about entering into agreements. (John Donnelly, Boston Globe, 25 Aug. 2001)

Roche Asks for Meeting With Brazil Health Minister: The dispute between the Brazilian government and Roche, the Swiss drug maker, intensified yesterday as the company asked to meet with the country's health minister, who repeated his threat to authorize generic copies of Roche's AIDS medicine Viracept. Roche executives said yesterday that they were surprised to learn that Jose Serra, the Brazilian health minister, planned to break the patent that prevents production of generic versions of Viracept. Roche said the price of Viracept in Brazil had already been reduced to about 50 percent of its cost in the United States, where a patient's annual dosage can cost thousands of dollars. The company said it wanted to continue to negotiate a settlement. But Mr. Serra said yesterday that he believed the company was trying to delay the government from getting its laboratory prepared to make the generic medicine. The government plans to start production of the generic Viracept in January, he said. (Melody Petersen and Jennifer L. Rich, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2001) 

Defiant Brazil gives go-ahead for copies of anti-Aids drug: Brazil has declared that it will allow generic copies of a brand-name anti-Aids drug to be made without the permission of the patent-holder - because the company, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, refused to cut its prices. (Alex Bellos and James Meikle, Guardian [UK], 24 Aug. 2001)

Beijing Admits to HIV-AIDS 'Epidemic': New Cases of Infection Rise 67% Over a Year, Health Ministry Reports - Breaking the Chinese government's general reticence on the subject of AIDS, a senior official openly acknowledged Thursday that China was facing an epidemic that threatened to outpace government efforts to control it. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times Service, in International Herald Tribune, 24 Aug. 2001) 

Government Needs to Rein In Drug Ads [USA]: Public Citizen’s Dr. Sidney Wolfe Testifies to Senate Lawmakers - The federal government urgently needs to beef up its regulation of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs because false and misleading ads can lead to injuries and deaths, Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe will tell lawmakers today. (Public Citizen, 24 July 2001)

• DTC Advertising Informs Patients About Untreated Diseases, New Treatments, PhRMA Tells Senate Subcommittee: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription medicines informs consumers about new medical treatments and improves public health, Gregory J. Glover, M.D., J.D., told the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and Tourism of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation at a hearing today. Glover, a licensed physician and practicing attorney represented the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA], 24 July 2001)

New Report Debunks Drug Industry Claims About the Cost of New Drug Research and Development [USA]: Second Report Documents Industrys Intense Lobby and Political Contribution Campaign to Keep Prices and Profits High - The pharmaceutical industry spends about one-fifth of what it says it spends on the research and development (R&D) of new drugs, destroying the chief argument it uses against making prescription drugs affordable to middle and low-income seniors, a Public Citizen investigation has found. (Public Citizen, 23 July 2001)

• "Pharmaceutical Industry R&D Costs: Key Findings about the Public Citizen Report," An Ernst and Young Study (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA], 11 Aug. 2001)

• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA] website

New Report Exposes Drug Industrys 625 Washington Lobbyists and Spending Blitz to Keep Prices and Profits High [USA] (Public Citizen, 23 July 2001)

• "Pharmaceutical Industry R&D Costs: Key Findings about the Public Citizen Report," An Ernst and Young Study (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA], 11 Aug. 2001)

• Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America [PhRMA] website

Brazil, Roche hope to resolve drugs row: The Brazilian government and Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, on Thursday signalled their readiness to seek a negotiated solution to a stand-off over the pricing of Aids drugs. (Raymond Colitt, Adrian Michaels and David Firn, Financial Times, 23 Aug. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Brazil To Break Swiss Company's Drug Patent - Brazil decided yesterday to break the patent on an AIDS drug made by Roche. Months of negotiations broke down when the Swiss pharmaceutical company failed to yield a discount large enough for Brazilian authorities, the New York Times reports. If Brazil issues a compulsory license for the drug, it will mark the first time that a developing country allows generic copies of a patented drug to be produced without permission, possibly encouraging other poor countries facing the HIV/AIDS pandemic to follow suit, the Times reports (UN Wire, 23 Aug. 2001)

Brazil Moves To Make Cheap AIDS Drug: Demands Deep Cut In Price Of Roche Anti-AIDS Drug... Threatens To Break Pharmaceutical's Patent On Medicine....And Produce its Own Low-Cost Version Of The Drug - Brazil's health minister has moved to strip Roche pharmaceutical's patent on the anti-AIDS drug Nelfinavir after negotiations failed to lower the price. (CBS News, 23 Aug. 2001)

Patent laws cause diplomatic uproar: There has been uproar in India this week over a United States decision to grant a patent to an American company for varieties of rice similar to basmati. And in Brazil, the government has announced it intends to break the patent on a vital Aids drug made by a Swiss pharmaceutical company. The two cases illustrate different aspects of the argument about patents that pits developing countries against Western big business. (Barnaby Mason, BBC News, 23 Aug. 2001)

{···português} Governo vai quebrar patente de remédio de combate à Aids da Roche [Brasil] (Diana Fernandes, O Globo [Brasil], 23 agosto 2001)

Doctors Join Suit Against Minister [South Africa]: About 250 doctors, many of whom are employed by the state, have joined the Treatment Action Campaign in its lawsuit against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her provincial health MECs. The campaign, doctors and other health professionals want the court to force the health ministry to provide Nevirapine widely in the public health service to reduce the risk of HIV-positive pregnant women from passing the virus on to their babies. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 22 Aug. 2001)

State Now Says 'No Problem' to AIDS Drug [South Africa]: As the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) prepares to launch its court case aimed at forcing government to supply an antiAIDS drug for pregnant mothers more widely, the health department appears to have accepted the drug company's long-standing offer of free drugs. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 21 Aug. 2001)

Can the Public and Private Sectors Work Together to Improve Health? Partnerships between the public sector and private enterprise can bring wide benefit in terms of improved health, but there must be safeguards to make sure that their prime focus is healthier populations rather than richer companies. This is the conclusion of a series of articles in this month's Bulletin of the World Health Organization which assesses the controversial issue of public–private partnerships for drugs and vaccines. (World Health Organization, 20 Aug. 2001) 

• {···français: La collaboration entre les secteurs public et privé pourrait-elle permettre d'améliorer la santé?}

• full issue of the Bulletin: Special Theme: Public–Private Partnerships for Drugs and Vaccines (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 79, no. 8, Aug. 2001)

Treatment Action Campaign Takes Government to Court On AIDS Drug [South Africa]: The South African AIDS activist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), announced last week that it would take the government to court for denying HIV-positive pregnant women drugs that reduce the risk of transmitting the disease to their babies, Reuters reported on Wednesday. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 16 Aug. 2001)

Region [Central America] seeks cheap Aids drugs: Six Central American nations have announced their intention to negotiate lower prices for Aids drugs from major multinational pharmaceutical companies in a bid to permit greater access to life-saving medicines. (Mike Lanchin, BBC News, 12 Aug. 2001)

Brazil - Winning Against AIDS: HIV/AIDS sufferers in Brazil today get the same treatment as HIV/AIDS sufferers in the USA and Europe - the same, free 'triple cocktail' of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, the same clinical care, the same monitoring.  So perhaps it's not surprising that Brazil's HIV/AIDS patients have proved just as capable of taking their medicines on time as Americans or Europeans (the failure rate is exactly the same for Los Angeles and Rio), and that since 1997 the Brazilian government's national HIV/AIDS programme has proved its cost-effectiveness - halving the death rate from AIDS, preventing thousands of new patients being hospitalized, and helping to stabilize the epidemic...Brazil is breaking the virtual price monopoly enjoyed under World Trade Agreements by the major pharmaceuticals companies. They've complained about Brazil's action. But Dr Pinheiro says they have little reason to. "The drug companies say they need to charge high prices in Latin America and Africa to pay for research into new drugs and that if they were to lower their prices to the poorer countries they would lose heavily. In truth the global drugs business is worth US$300 billion and 82% of this market is made up of sales in the USA, Europe and Japan - 82%! So how is it then that we poor countries can cause so much harm to these companies with our share of the market?"  Brazilian Health Minister Jos‚ Serra puts it in a nutshell: "We've put our case to the world and we've fought for it. And what is our case? It is that access to medicines is a basic human right." (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 9 Aug. 2001)

• full transcript of "Brazil: Winning Against AIDS"

World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund respond to [United Nations] Subcommission report on globalization [which contended that the rules of international trade and economic regimes did not show sufficient respect for human rights standards] (United Nations, 8 Aug. 2001)

DRUGS: Study Presented To UN Calls For More Human Rights Focus - International economic agreements, including those covering intellectual property rights, should focus more on the issue of human rights and not bar policies ensuring access to medicine at affordable prices, said a study presented to the UN Subcommission on Human Rights yesterday. (UN Wire, 8 Aug. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Ethiopia Reaches Deal With Firms To Import Cheap Drugs (UN Wire, 8 Aug. 2001)

Rights jurists for sui generis systems on pharmaceutical IPRs [intellectual property rights]: The two jurists, Mr. J.Oloka-Onyango (Uganda) and Ms. Deepika Udagama (Sri Lanka), as UN Special Rapporteurs, have asked WTO member states to come out with a “specific and unequivocal undertaking to the effect that no provision of the agreement prohibits members from taking measures to provide access to medicines at affordable prices, promote public health and nutrition.” They made this recommendation in a progress report to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 7 Aug. 2001)

UN Calls for Special Regime for Medicines: No international agreement should prohibit policies that ensure access to medicine at affordable prices, says a study presented to the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights Tuesday. (Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service, 7 Aug. 2001) 

Ethiopians appeal for cheaper Aids drugs: Thousands of Ethiopians, including many children orphaned by Aids, took to the streets on Sunday to appeal to their government to import cheap drugs to combat the Aids epidemic sweeping the country. (Independent Online [South Africa], 5 Aug. 2001)

Caution about HIV drugs 'misplaced': People dying of HIV/Aids in poor developing countries can be safely, effectively and relatively cheaply treated with western drugs according to two papers in the medical journal Lancet this week which categorically dismiss the current negative approach of western politicians and drug companies. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 3 Aug. 2001)

Health Workers Call for AIDS Monitoring: HIV/AIDS activists warn that Kenya does not have the adequate facilities to administer the drug, Nevirapine which is used to curb mother-to-child-transmission of the HIV virus, 'Africa Analysis' reported on Monday....HIV/AIDS activists are calling for private sector support to make HIV-testing more affordable. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 1 Aug. 2001)

Nigeria leads African way in Aids treament: Nigeria plans to launch the largest Aids treatment program in Africa using cheap generic drugs on September 1, says a United Nations special envoy. (Independent Online [South Africa], 31 July 2001)

WHO unduly influenced by large pharma companies, complains Nader: The World Health Organisation has permitted a handful of large pharmaceutical companies to exercise undue influence over its polices and programs and intimidate and deter the WHO from exercising leadership on a wide range of trade-related health issues, particularly in the area of access to medicines and in promoting use of generic drugs, noted consumer advocate, Dr. Ralph Nader has complained in a letter to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 29 July 2001)

US, Swiss take hard-line on TRIPS, Public Health and Doha: The United States and Switzerland have emerged as the two hard- liners in opposing any operative decisions at the Doha Ministerial on TRIPS and Public Health or of any ‘understandings’ or ‘interpretations’ that would enable a member-country to issue compulsory licences under Article 31 of the Agreement, except on the ground of non-use (meaning patent holder not working the patent and not agreeing to license others to produce) and abuse of patent rights. (Chakravarthi Raghavan, South-North Development Monitor, 26 July 2001)

GENOMICS: WHO Meeting Calls For Guidelines To Prevent Abuses - Scientists and sociologists at a World Health Organization conference Tuesday called for ethical guidelines enshrined in international law to head off the possible exploitation of patients in poor countries by Western scientists in search of genetic material. (UN Wire, 26 July 2001)

BP: a friend of the earth? [regarding FTSE4GOOD]: Jill Insley explains how the oil giant became a 'socially sound' investment: A fund holding shares in oil and pharmaceutical companies is unlikely to meet most people's definition of an environmentally or socially sound investment. So it's not surprising that FTSE4Good, new stock market indices intended to track the prices of socially responsible companies which include BP, Shell, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, have attracted heavy criticism. (Jill Insley, Observer [UK], 22 July 2001)

{···español} Los poderosos crean un fondo contra el sida de 240.000 millones (El Pais [Madrid], 21 Julio 2001)

Health fund pledges 'inadequate': The world's richest countries on Friday formally launched a new fund to fight Aids, but divisions remained over how it should be administered and health charities said the amount pledged was inadequate (Stephen Fidler and Alan Beattie, Financial Times, 20 July 2001)

Global Health Fund must not be a subsidy for the drug industry: As the G8 announces details of Global Health Fund, access to affordable medicines for the poor must be a priority. (Médecins Sans Frontières, 20 July 2001)

Wealthy Countries Seal the Deal: AIDS Treatment Not Worth the Dollars [regarding the launch of the Global AIDS and Health Trust Fund] (ACT UP Health GAP Coalition, 20 July 2001)

Drugs: US, Europe Battle Over Pricing Rules: Even before the United Nations has reached its goal of $10 billion for Secretary-General Kofi Annan's global HIV/AIDS fund, the United States and Europe are going head to head over how the funds should be spent and, in particular, issues surrounding pharmaceutical drugs. (UN Wire, 20 July 2001)

{···français} Les pays riches lancent un Fonds mondial pour la santé (Le Monde, 20 juillet 2001)

Roadmap points the way ahead for biotechnology: Business experts serving on ICC [International Chamber of Commerce] commissions covering environment, trade and investment, intellectual property and marketing have combined to draw up a Global Roadmap for Modern Biotechnology. The roadmap contrasts business and government positions on all the basic issues under debate, including promoting innovation, building consumer trust and health and environmental issues. (International Chamber of Commerce, 20 July 2001)

• full text: A Global Roadmap for Modern Biotechnology: An issues-based navigational tool with policy options for decision-makers in the public and private sectors (International Chamber of Commerce)

Price of vital TB drugs reduced by as much as 94% through WHO partnership - People suffering from the deadly strains of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) now have access to high quality "second line" drugs at sharply reduced prices and to a system designed to promote the use of the drugs in the most effective manner, thanks to international efforts led by the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières and Harvard Medical School.  Some countries will be able to save as much as 94% of their current spending on the drugs needed to treat MDR-TB.  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was instrumental in the negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry for the second line drugs.  (World Health Organization, 19 July 2001)

• {···français: Diminution de 94 % du prix des médicaments antituberculeux indispensables, grâce au partenariat de l’OMS}

press release: Pfizer: The industry leader in pricing drugs beyond the reach of the poor in developing countries - Oxfam today accuses Pfizer, the world's largest and richest drug company, of moral bankruptcy by pricing life-saving drugs beyond the reach of millions of poor people. (Oxfam GB, 19 July 2001)

• full report: Formula for fairness: patient rights before patent rights [Oxfam Company Briefing Paper on Pfizer] (Oxfam GB, July 2001)

• company response: Pfizer Statement to Oxfam Report; Responses to Oxfam Questions on Access to Medicines in Developing Countries (Pfizer, 19 July 2001)

Slowly but surely, clean water becomes reality in China: The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources announced Friday that it will launch a project to improve environmental conditions around the Cetian reservoir in central China. The site has been polluted heavily by industry, and is also home to one of China's nuclear missile bases. The ministry will invest $209 million to control pollution around the reservoir which is a major source of potable water in that area. "Coal, the chemical industry, medicines, and gasoline are the main sources of pollution here," said Zhang Hai, an official with the Environmental Protection Bureau which supervises the project. (Anjuli Bose, Earth Times News Service, 16 July 2001)

New index [FTSE4Good index] riles campaigners: The launch of a new series of indices for socially responsible investors provoked immediate controversy yesterday, with strong criticism from environmental and human rights campaigners over the inclusion of certain oil and drugs companies, and protests from the CBI [Confederation of British Industries] about the potential damage to those who have failed to make the list. (Geoff Gibbs, Guardian [UK], 11 July 2001)

NGOs Air Concerns On Trading System At WTO Symposium (ICTSD Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 10 July 2001)

Like Minded Group Sets Out Positions Before Doha: Trade Ambassadors from the Like Minded Group (LMG) -- a 13 member developing countries coalition -- elaborated their positions on various WTO issues in an interactive dialogue with journalists and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) held on 5 July in Geneva. (ICTSD Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 10 July 2001)

HEALTH: UN Report Sees Green Light for Generic AIDS Drugs - In a direct challenge to the world's pharmaceutical industry, the authors of a new UN report call on developing countries to strengthen their national laws in order to enable local production of cheaper, lifesaving AIDS drugs. Such an option can be pursued legitimately under compulsory licensing, a principle in international commerce that permits countries to "use patents without permission of the patent holder in return for a reasonable royalty on sale," says the Human Development Report 2001, released Tuesday by the UN Development Programme. (Marwaan Macan-Markar, Inter Press Service, 10 July 2001) 

UNDP: New Report Cites Importance Of Technology To Poor States - Opposition to genetically modified crops by wealthy countries threatens the ability of poor countries to feed their growing populations, the UN Development Program warns in its Human Development Report 2001, scheduled for release tomorrow in Mexico. (UN Wire, 9 July 2001)

TUBERCULOSIS: WHO, Drug Firms To Provide Low-Cost Drugs: The World Health Organization is teaming with drug makers including Eli Lilly and Co. and Jacobus Pharmaceutical Co. to provide five drugs for treating drug-resistant tuberculosis at slashed prices to poor countries, New Scientist reported yesterday. Months of talks led to an agreement to cut prices by 60% to 90% in poor countries. (UN Wire, 6 July 2001)

Patently Obvious: Protection of intellectual property - works of the mind - is the lifeblood of today's new knowledge economy. But while the benefits to the multinational pharmaceutical or telecommunication giants are plain, what relevance do international patent regulations have for developing countries? (Lifeonline: A multimedia initiative about the impact of globalization, 5 July 2001)

• full transcript of "Patently Obvious"

Globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights: Progress report submitted by J. Oloka-Onyango and Deepika Udagama (United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 2 July 2001)

SOUTHERN SICKNESS, NORTHERN MEDICINE - Patently wrong: After years of lethargy the international community has declared war on Aids. Following a special session of the UN in June and the G8 summit in July, a fund will be set up by the end of the year. But the agreement being negotiated with the pharmaceutical industry may fail to provide much-needed care for millions in the South. (Philippe Rivière, Le Monde diplomatique, July 2001)