Six nations sign pact for cheap AIDS drugs

Hollywood star Richard Gere walks with children while visiting the Mercy center during the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok yesterday. The actor is one of a handful of celebrities including US soul singer Dionne Warwick, British actor Rupert Everett, Australian Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee who have joined about 17,000 delegates at the AIDS summit, which is entitled "Access for All". PHOTO: AFP

Three of the six, China, Thailand and Brazil, are among the world's biggest copycat drug makers and their pact aims to treat up to 10 million new patients.

The list is completed by Russia, Nigeria and Ukraine, and they could endorse a pact agreed through the World Trade Organization in 2001 that allows countries with a health crisis to break patents.

Agreement has been reached but the deal is yet to be signed, said officials.

"This is a cooperation among developing countries. This is not an anti-US network," said Pakdee Pothisiri, deputy permanent secretary of Thailand's health ministry.

"This cooperation will increase the potential in developing and producing the generic drugs," Pakdee said.

The United States has pursued a policy of protecting patents held by drug makers, many of which are US pharmaceutical companies, and having drug companies work out bilateral agreements to sell drugs cheaply to poor countries.

But some of the countries in the pact, such as Brazil, which proposed the pact, appears to favour breaking patent agreements.

"Public health must come before commercial (interests)," Alexandre Domingues Grangeiro, director of the Brazil Health Ministry's National AIDS Programme, was quoted as saying by The Nation paper in Bangkok.

However, some countries in the pact were reluctant to break patents even though they supported the idea of cheaper drugs.

China, which is a top exporter of raw materials for AIDS drugs, could lose its right to export the materials if it promotes the invokes the compulsory licence.

"It would be a big loss for us if we cannot export," said Ren Minghui, of the Chinese health ministry.

Some countries in the pact are already producing generic versions of patented drugs but an agreement is expected to lead to increased production.

Prices of the anti-AIDS drugs in those countries have dropped by as much as 80 percent.

India and South Africa were making final decisions on joining the pact, The Nation said.