Oxfam claimed this week that the high cost of medicines is caused by tough intellectual property rules and that this is why most people in the poorest countries have no access to drugs. The facts are wrong and divert attention from the bigger truth: In most countries there simply aren't enough nurses, doctors and clinics to administer to the sick.
It is not surprising, however, that the price of medicines should become the focus of debate. After all, who wants to hand over large sums of hard-earned cash to pay for expensive drugs when, in theory, they only cost a few cents to make in a factory? Surely by weakening patents the government would reduce drug prices, thereby increasing access to medicines for all?
Taken at face value, the answer would seem to be yes. But look a little deeper and you will find that intellectual property and the price of medicines is largely irrelevant in the face of the other major factors that affect a nation's health.
Take the example of India. Since 1975, it has weakened intellectual property laws in the belief that it would drive down the price of medicines. It certainly did that for some drugs, but did it make the Indian people any healthier?
The answer is no.
Access to even basic medicines in India remains unacceptably low. Children go without routine vaccinations. Simple off-patent anti-infectives are out of reach of the majority of the rural poor. Despite pumping out cheap generic AIDS drugs for years, a paltry 12,000 of India's 5 million AIDS sufferers were receiving the drugs at the end of last year.
For the Indian poor, the price of drugs is not the issue. The real issue is the state of their healthcare infrastructure.
The government-run system is a shambles, riddled with inefficiency and corruption and beset by a lack of resources. The transport network is so bad that rural people struggle to get to a clinic, even if one exists within 1,500km of their home. Meanwhile, dirty water and cooking fuels exact a terrible toll of disease on the poor.
So, when the Indian government decided last year to strengthen its intellectual property laws in order to accelerate India's economic development, it was able to do so because the people did not see a connection between arcane patent laws and the reality of their lives.
What they want are hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses. Without these things, you can give drugs away for free and they still won't get to the most needy.
The Indian voters understood this -- and the prices of medicines have not shot up, despite activists' forecasts.
There are similarities with many other countries. In the Philippines, 40 percent of people will never see a doctor in their entire lives. Clinics and hospitals are rare. PhilHealth, the government-run social insurance scheme, provides very basic cover for only around half of the population.
The exodus of healthcare workers to better opportunities overseas has reached such high levels that last year the Filipino Alliance of Healthcare Workers warned that the healthcare system faces "imminent collapse."
This is compounded by counterproductive policies. Last year, the Philippines increased VAT on medicines from 10 to 12 percent and -- incredibly -- made previously exempt things like doctors' fees subject to VAT. This amounts to little more than a tax on the sick and dying.
The Philippines is not unique. Most countries in Africa, and many in Asia and Latin America have dysfunctional health systems, a lack of health insurance and regressive taxes on medical goods and services.
As a result of these failures of governance, less than 50 percent of people have regular access to essential medicines in some parts of Africa and Asia.
In the end, it is the patients who are suffering from the current fixation with patents and prices. It is taking energy and discussion away from the things that reall?y matter, such as infrastructure, doctors and nurses. Unless these things are made more widely available, people will go on dying from easily preventable diseases.
As for prices, out of 18 comparable AIDS drugs named by Doctors Without Borders in an attack on patents, 14 patented drugs sell below or around the cost of generics.
Last July, the head of the WHO's AIDS division said: "It is very obvious ... that the elephant in the room is not the current price of drugs. The real obstacle is the fragility of the health systems. You have health infrastructure that is dilapidated, a health workforce that is demoralized, labs that don't work, supply chains that don't exist and diagnostics that are missing."
Improving provision is not easy. But it would help if debate focused on these life-saving factors. In the face of widespread health crises, diverting energy and attention toward patents is a disservice to patients.
Philip Stevens is director of the health program at International Policy Network, a London-based development think tank.
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
RSS