TPP = killing poor people in poor countries [View all]

[eridani]

A Major AIDS Research Group Says the TPP Will Make It Harder to Fight AIDS

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/30133-a-major-aids-research-group-says-the-tpp-will-make-it-harder-to-fight-aids

While the Trans-Pacific Partnership is usually described as a trade agreement, it includes a number of provisions that have little to do with promoting international trade. One of the most important examples: provisions championed by big pharmaceutical companies that would delay the introduction of low-cost, generic versions of life-saving medicines. That could have significant and potentially dangerous ramifications for global public health.

A new report from the prominent AIDS research group amfAR argues that these changes would drive up the price of some drugs that are desperately needed in the developing world. The group says that would hamper the global fight against AIDS (and other diseases) in a way that would ultimately cost lives.

When a drug company invents a new drug, it is granted a patent monopoly — usually around 20 years — on the drug to help it recoup its research and development costs. After the patent expires, other companies are free to make competing versions of the drug, known as generics.

Generic drugs are especially important for low- and medium-income countries because they tend to be dramatically cheaper than name-brand pharmaceuticals. Generic drugs are also heavily used by international public health groups such as Doctors without Borders because lower prices allow their donors dollars to go further. From amfAR's report: