Mr.Chaiya Sasomsap
Minister of Public Health
Tiwanont Rd.
Talad Kwan District
Nontaburi Province 11000
Tel +66 2281 4040
Fax +66 2282 5131
Dear Minister Chaiya Sasomsab,
Newspapers reported that your government is in the process of
reviewing several compulsory licenses recently issued by the previous
government.
At the end of 2006, Thailand decided to make use of its right to
issue compulsory licenses in order to ensure access to medicine for
its population and the sustainability of its universal medical coverage.
In doing so, Thailand demonstrated its sense of accountability toward
its patients. By implementing a thoughtful policy, based on the
country's needs in terms of access to medicine, its experts and
political leaders offered an example to other countries, showing that
it is possible for developing countries to enforce international
intellectual property agreements while at the same time using lawful
flexibilities when needed (as allowed by the TRIPS Agreement and
restated by the Doha Declaration).
Through the media, we also took note of the fact that the brand-name
pharmaceutical industry and its followers are trying to influence
your newly elected government by raising their usual threats (to push
for Thailand to be placed on the "Priority Foreign Country" list or
for its GSP privileges to be limited, to reduce investment in the
country, etc). This immoral behavior leads us to make the following
comments:
First, the pharmaceutical industry is not omnipotent and cannot force
the USTR to go against the US law itself, or to simply comply with
its desires. Recent changes in US trade policy have demonstrated this
(1). In the meantime, under the influence of the Democrats,
congressional investigations of pharmaceutical products and
companies' practices are more and more numerous (2), which seems to
suggest that the pharmaceutical lobby is losing influence. Moreover,
conceding to this pressure will only incentivize them to perpetually
raise their demands and further confiscate people's rights and
countries' sovereignty.
Second, the brand-name pharmaceutical industry and its supporters are
wrong. The Thai health policy is fully legal and is greatly useful to
the population. A number of individuals, groups, and countries have
expressed their support for the Thai initiative and are ready to do
so again. Such supporters stood up in Doha once, and they will not
accept the reign of terror that the pharmaceutical industry is now
again trying to impose.
With this letter, therefore, we would like to express our support for
your efforts and our hope that Thailand will not be intimidated and
will pursue its policy, basing its decisions on the interest of its
people above all else.
Sincerely,
Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights (KFHR)
Association of Korea Doctors for Health Rights
Association of Physicians for Humanism
Korea Dentists Association for Health Society
Korea Health and Medical Workers Union
Korean Pharmacists for Democratic Society
(1) See for examples the changes made by the USTR in the US-Peru FTA,
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=811
(2) See for examples:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/democrats-work-to-subpoena-fda-
investigators-2008-01-29.html
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?
uuid=1517DB62-3048-5C12-00017FE1FCEC954F
http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/01/the-democrats-are-coming/
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/16/congress-investigates-vytorin-
ads/
http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/elizabethberry/Cvms
For further information, please contact :
Song Miok
Chairperson
Korean Pharmacists for Democratic Society
3F, 26-1, Ewha-Dong, Chongro-Gu,
Seoul, South Korea (110-500)
Email) mediplex@naver.com
Website) www.pharmacist.or.kr
Tel) +82-2-523-9752
Fax) +82-2-766-6025
태국강제실시지지 서한
2월
20
2008
By site manager