Public Meeting on Right to Affordable Medicines

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Re: Meeting on the Right to Affordable Medicines

Every citizen has a fundamental right to health as a part of her/his right to

life,

guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. Access to affordable medicines is an

intrinsic part of this right to life.

Even though many essential and life saving medicines are out of reach of most

people, it is significant to note that prices of medicines in India are amongst

the

cheapest in the world. This is because of our existing Patent laws and a

supportive

Drug Price Control regime. However this is all going to change in the near

future.

India has signed the TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Intellectual Property

Rights), and as a member of the World Trade Organisation; it has to change the

existing patent laws to comply with the international legal regime by January

1st,

2005. Due to this, India will have to recognize the rights of multinational drug

companies who will have monopoly over manufacture and pricing of drugs. Prices

for all drugs developed after the TRIPS Agreement including Anti Retroviral

Drugs

(ARVs) that can significantly extend the healthy lives of people living with

HIV, will

rise drastically, making them unaffordable and beyond access to most people who

need them. This will adversely affect India's ability to deal with serious

illnesses

and epidemics such as Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV/AIDS.

In this context, countries such as Brazil have upheld the right to life of

people living

with HIV/AIDS by providing free drugs, thereby successfully reducing the

morbidity and mortality associated with the epidemic. It is necessary that India

responds to such measures too, at governmental and community levels.

This is a critical issue and requires immediate response from the civil society.

The

Lawyers Collective believes that it essential to discuss and deliberate on these

issues, which affect everybody. In this connection, we are organising a public

meeting on the issue of The Right to Affordable Medicines on May 1st, 2001,

between 2.30 and 5.30 p.m., at the Constitutional Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi .

We would greatly appreciate your presence along with all the members of your

organisation and other people interested so that these issues can be thoroughly

discussed. We envisage this meeting as the first step in the developing of a

strategy. Please confirm your participation.

Please find attached a set of small handouts announcing the meeting. We would be

grateful if you could spread the word around and distribute the same amongst

people you work with or otherwise know, who might be interested in attending

such a meeting.

Hope to see you there.

Warm regards,

Tripti Tandon

Advocacy and Training Officer

E-mail: aidslaw1@...