To bring the capability of pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh up to a reasonable competency level to ensure their survival and to help the poor population of this country, exemption from abiding by the TRIPS agreement is a very logical proposition. Thus, our recommendation is to extend the exemption period under TRIPS for 10 more years to 1 January 2026 for Bangladesh

TRIPS agreement and pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh

Part - II

In fact, “public health” should not be viewed as a matter of trade yielding high return.  It is a formidable problem, which is directly involved with human, animal and plant life and health around the world. It needs collective efforts both in national and international forums. Patent protection for essential vaccines for some serious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus etc will raises the prices very high which will make the common people unable to afford such required vaccines and other medicines. Consequently, the poor people must die without vaccine/medicine. In this circumstance, should the world community still remain silent allowing companies to receive unusually high returns from pharmaceutical products?
The world conscience should respond to ensure supply of vaccines/medicines at lower prices. Therefore restriction in this case is  necessary to ensure affordable healthcare system throughout the world.
40% of people of Bangladesh live under poverty. Recent estimates show that per capita spending in health is currently about $17 per year, of which 30 percent is contributed by the public sector, about 6 percent is accounted for by the civil society, and the remaining 64 per cent consists of out-of-pocket expenditure on a diverse range of small-scale private providers of modern and alternative services. Direct household expenditure on purchasing drugs from pharmacies amounts to $4 per head, far outstripping public expenditure of less than $1 per head on drugs.
Moreover, government health insurance and other similar healthcare support systems are not available for poor people of Bangladesh who have to pay directly from their pockets for physician consultation and medicine. Under patent protection medicine will be too expensive for these poor people to afford. This will bring devastating consequences for the health care system of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is yet to develop the infrastructure necessary to implement patent protection of pharmaceuticals. According to a study by the United Nations Industry
Organization (UNIDO), Bangla­desh Pharmaceutical industry lacks both the capacity to produce the key active ingredients for drugs and technology and intellectual ability to invent new drugs. Though Bangladesh Government has taken initiative to establish API (Active pharmaceutical Ingredient) Park at Bausia in Munshiganj (about 40 km away from Dhaka), it will take 8 to 10 years for this park to become fully functional and manufacture API of essential molecules.
Developed country Members were supposed to provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base. But, to date no such incentive in promoting and encouraging technology transfers has taken place in Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh malaria and tuberculosis are still very much prevalent. Still the population of Bangladesh is at great risk of epidemic from these diseases. So, if TRIPS is implemented within 2016, Bangladesh will not have the facility  of low cost medicine for its
people.
According to a 2009 report by Office of the High Representative
for the Least Developed
Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), climate changes are expected to influence the pattern and prevalence of different diseases in LDCs of Asia. Increase in temperature and heat wave will probably increase mortality among elderly urban poor population.
Moreover, global warming
will increase respiratory and cardiovas­cular diseases that will increase the sufferings and overall health expenditure of people in Bangladesh.
Vector borne diseases like malaria and dengue and water borne diseases caused by giardia, salmonella and cryptosporidium could become more prevalent in Asian countries including Bangladesh because of global warming. Thus Bangladesh will be a victim of global activities that affect climate; implementation of TRIPS in Bangladesh from 2016 will add further burden to the sufferings of poor people of Bangladesh.
In this situation, Bangladesh Government is not in a position to put patent protection for pharmaceutical products by 2016 deadline. Implementing patent protection in 2016 will severely hamper access to medicine to the huge population of Bangladesh. People of Bangladesh will have to depend on costly imported patented medicine and as a result, public health of Bangladesh will be at great risk.
Finally, the spirit of the recommendation for patent extension lies in the intention to help the poor with affordable treatment options. In a broader perspective, the incentive for innovation of the patent holder is not affected as no patent infringement occurred so far in LDCs who are producing medicines mostly for domestic consumption and within LDCs. Also as of now, with patented products no LDCs tried to enter markets where patent protection is in effect or challenged patents of products that they are allowed to manufacture locally. So, to bring the capability of pharma companies of Bangladesh up to a reasonable competency level to ensure their survival and to help the poor population of this country, exemption from abiding by the TRIPS agreement is a very logical proposition.Thus, our recommen­dation is to extend the exemption period for 10 more years to 1 January 2026 for Bangladesh.

The writer is a chemist and Asst.CEO of a pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh

(Concluded)

 

To bring the capability of pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh up to a reasonable competency level to ensure their survival and to help the poor population of this country, exemption from abiding by the TRIPS agreement is a very logical proposition. Thus, our recommendation is to extend the exemption period under TRIPS for 10 more years to 1 January 2026 for Bangladesh

TRIPS agreement and pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh

Part - II In fact, public health should not be viewed as a matter of trade yielding high return. It is a formidable problem, which is directly involved with human, animal and plant life and health around the world. It needs collective efforts both in national and international forums. Patent protection for essential vaccines for some serious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus etc will raises the prices very high which will make the common people unable to afford such required vaccines and other medicines. Consequently, the poor people must die without vaccine/medicine. In this circumstance, should the world community still remain silent allowing companies to receive unusually high returns from pharmaceutical products? The world conscience should respond to ensure supply of vaccines/medicines at lower prices. Therefore restriction in this case is necessary to ensure affordable healthcare system throughout the world. 40% of people of Bangladesh live under poverty. Recent estimates show that per capita spending in health is currently about $17 per year, of which 30 percent is contributed by the public sector, about 6 percent is accounted for by the civil society, and the remaining 64 per cent consists of out-of-pocket expenditure on a diverse range of small-scale private providers of modern and alternative services. Direct household expenditure on purchasing drugs from pharmacies amounts to $4 per head, far outstripping public expenditure of less than $1 per head on drugs. Moreover, government health insurance and other similar healthcare support systems are not available for poor people of Bangladesh who have to pay directly from their pockets for physician consultation and medicine. Under patent protection medicine will be too expensive for these poor people to afford. This will bring devastating consequences for the health care system of Bangladesh Bangladesh is yet to develop the infrastructure necessary to implement patent protection of pharmaceuticals. According to a study by the United Nations Industry Organization (UNIDO), Bangladesh Pharmaceutical industry lacks both the capacity to produce the key active ingredients for drugs and technology and intellectual ability to invent new drugs. Though Bangladesh Government has taken initiative to establish API (Active pharmaceutical Ingredient) Park at Bausia in Munshiganj (about 40 km away from Dhaka), it will take 8 to 10 years for this park to become fully functional and manufacture API of essential molecules. Developed country Members were supposed to provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base. But, to date no such incentive in promoting and encouraging technology transfers has taken place in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh malaria and tuberculosis are still very much prevalent. Still the population of Bangladesh is at great risk of epidemic from these diseases. So, if TRIPS is implemented within 2016, Bangladesh will not have the facility of low cost medicine for its people. According to a 2009 report by Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), climate changes are expected to influence the pattern and prevalence of different diseases in LDCs of Asia. Increase in temperature and heat wave will probably increase mortality among elderly urban poor population. Moreover, global warming will increase respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that will increase the sufferings and overall health expenditure of people in Bangladesh. Vector borne diseases like malaria and dengue and water borne diseases caused by giardia, salmonella and cryptosporidium could become more prevalent in Asian countries including Bangladesh because of global warming. Thus Bangladesh will be a victim of global activities that affect climate; implementation of TRIPS in Bangladesh from 2016 will add further burden to the sufferings of poor people of Bangladesh. In this situation, Bangladesh Government is not in a position to put patent protection for pharmaceutical products by 2016 deadline. Implementing patent protection in 2016 will severely hamper access to medicine to the huge population of Bangladesh. People of Bangladesh will have to depend on costly imported patented medicine and as a result, public health of Bangladesh will be at great risk. Finally, the spirit of the recommendation for patent extension lies in the intention to help the poor with affordable treatment options. In a broader perspective, the incentive for innovation of the patent holder is not affected as no patent infringement occurred so far in LDCs who are producing medicines mostly for domestic consumption and within LDCs. Also as of now, with patented products no LDCs tried to enter markets where patent protection is in effect or challenged patents of products that they are allowed to manufacture locally. So, to bring the capability of pharma companies of Bangladesh up to a reasonable competency level to ensure their survival and to help the poor population of this country, exemption from abiding by the TRIPS agreement is a very logical proposition.Thus, our recommendation is to extend the exemption period for 10 more years to 1 January 2026 for Bangladesh. The writer is a chemist and Asst.CEO of a pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh (Concluded)