[HEALTHGAP] Please endorse: Joint statement on access to medicines and the US Korean FTA

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Pasted below is an important statement being circulated by public health and

AIDS activists opposing the US Korean FTA.

Please send your organizational endorsements to Heeseob Nam

<hurips@...> as soon as possible. The deadline for endorsement is June

21, 2006.

Thanks!

Asia

--

Asia

Health GAP

asia@...

tel +1 267 475 2645

http://www.healthgap.org

Joint Statement on KORUS FTA

³We say NO to FTA, which threatens the people¹s health right²

June **, 2006

People¹s health is under threat.

Neoliberal globalization is the keyword explaining the current global

political and economic system. Its policies and orders, implemented through

multinational as well as bilateral or regional trade agreements, deteriorate

public interest and deprive the people of their rights to access to public

service in the name of ³free trade². FTA aims to promote privatization and

commercialization of essential services such as health care, education,

culture, electricity, and water and every aspects of life. As a result, it

restricts access to medicine and threatens food security and safe

environment. The proposed KORUS FTA contains provisions that put profit of

transnational corporations (TNCs) ahead of people¹s health right. These are

the reasons why we say No to KORUS FTA.

1. FTA facilitates privatization and commercialization of public services

including healthcare system

We believe that everyone has the right to health service such as prevention,

treatment and rehabilitation based on one¹s needs. Commercialization of

health service and privatization of public health facilities restrict

people¹s access to proper health care. Approving profit hospitals and

private health insurance system undermines the national healthcare system

which has been mandatory in Korea.

We oppose the KORUS FTA as it undermines the healthcare system as public

goods.

2. TRIPS plus provisions seriously restrict people¹s access to medicine

Every nation is responsible to ensure its people to access medicine at

affordable price. FTAs seriously block people¹s access to medicine by

forcing various measures to strengthen patent and intellectual property

protections on medicine. For instance, linkage between patent and drug

approval, patent term extension for examination delay, exclusive right on

drug approval data, expanding patentable subject matter, limiting the

circumstances under which compulsory license may be issued, and prohibiting

parallel import would restrict the entry of generic competitors and

undermine the ability to access to medicine at affordable price.

We are also concerned of other measures such as A-7 average price for

innovative drug used to raise the drug price and serve to benefit patent

owners.

We demand that any measures that restrict compulsory licensing and parallel

import against the spirit of Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public

Health should be stopped.

3. FTA threatens the safety of food and water

We believe that water is a common resource that everyone has the right to

get access. Also, safety should be the priority concern in food trading.

We worry that the decision to restart import of beef infected of mad cow

disease is made by Korean government simply because beef was considered as a

barrier to FTA talk. It should have been based on medical and epidemiologic

evidence provided by independent party. The SPS & TBT should not be used as

measures to promote export against people¹s health. Thus we oppose KORUS

FTA that privatize water; reach agreements on SPS & TBT that threatens

health; and decide import of beef on political basis.

4. The investor-to-government claim system can infringe on government¹s duty

and right to protect public goods.

We have witnessed many cases that investor-to-government claim system

seriously infringes on people¹s right to health, safe environment, and

public security system. Under NAFTA, Ethyl and UPS claims against

government showed that public health policy could be ruined for the profit

of corporations. We also know the case that the attempt of New Brunswick

state government to introduce a policy to improve public health system was

set back by an investor¹s claim.

Therefore we oppose the KORUS FTA that contains provisions of

investor-to-government claim system.

Any international agreement, bilateral and regional trade agreements should

not contain provisions that adversely affect people¹s health status. We

conclude that KORUS FTA would infringe on people¹s health right. Also we

conclude that it will be a barrier to the global movement to enforce

people¹s health right. Thus we support the movement opposing KORUS FTA and

we ask individuals and organizations all over the world to join our action.

June ***, 2006

Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Right (Korea)

Public Pharmaceutical Center (Korea)

Christian Medical Association for People Health (Korea)

Dasan Human Rights Center (Korea)

Essential Action (US)

Health Global Access Project (GAP) (US)

Health Right Network (Korea)

Intellectual Property Left (IPLeft) (Korea)

Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet (Korea)

Korea Social Insurance trade Union (Korea)

Korean Peasants League (Korea)

Korean Advanced Farmers Federation (Korea)

Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights (Korea)

Association of Physicians for Humanism (Korea)

Association of Korea Doctors for Health Rights (Korea)

Korea Dentists Association for Health Society (Korea)

Korea Health and Medical Workers Union (Korea), Korean Pharmacists For

Democratic Society (Korea), Solidarity for Worker's Health (Korea)

LaborNet in South Korea (Korea)

Media Center Mediact (Korea)

Nanuri+,HIV/AIDS Human Rights Advocacy Group of Korea (Korea)

Patients not Patents (US)

People before Profit (Korea)

Public Pharmaceutical Center (Korea)

Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights (Korea)

Won Buddhism Committee for Human Rights (Korea)

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