Malaysian medical bodies and NGOs have come together to appeal to US President Barack Obama not to allow trade agreements that make medicine unaffordable for the sick and poor.
Ahead of Obama's visit over the weekend, the 21 groups said it faulted the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) as it allows pharmaceutical companies to renew their patents over and over again.
Sick AIDS patients in Malaysia for example can mostly only afford generic or cheaper copies of the HIV drugs. But under the TPPA, their access to these drugs may be completely cut off.
"We are asking US to treat everybody equally and fairly.
"As a big brother, they must give out more than they are taking back," Malaysian Medical Association (MMA)'s president Dr NKS Tharmaseelan told reporters at MMA HQ in Kuala Lumpur.
He said that it is US and European pharmaceuticals that were lobbying for this lopsided "ever greening" of patents rule.
They saw the appeal to US as a last resort as the Malaysian government's position on this was inconsistent, Tharmaseelan said.
[More to follow]
Ahead of Obama's visit over the weekend, the 21 groups said it faulted the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) as it allows pharmaceutical companies to renew their patents over and over again.
Sick AIDS patients in Malaysia for example can mostly only afford generic or cheaper copies of the HIV drugs. But under the TPPA, their access to these drugs may be completely cut off.
"We are asking US to treat everybody equally and fairly.
"As a big brother, they must give out more than they are taking back," Malaysian Medical Association (MMA)'s president Dr NKS Tharmaseelan told reporters at MMA HQ in Kuala Lumpur.
He said that it is US and European pharmaceuticals that were lobbying for this lopsided "ever greening" of patents rule.
They saw the appeal to US as a last resort as the Malaysian government's position on this was inconsistent, Tharmaseelan said.
[More to follow]
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