GENEVA, 31 August 2003 — Following an impassioned appeal from Africa, the World Trade Organization yesterday sealed its agreement to allow poor countries to import cheap copies of patented drugs for killer diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
“All people of good will and good conscience will be very happy today with the decision that the WTO members have made,” said Kenyan Ambassador Amina Chawahir Mohamed. “It’s good news for Africa. It’s especially good news for the people of Africa who desperately need access to affordable medicine.” The breakthrough followed a meeting Friday evening when representatives of many African countries pleaded with other diplomats to stop trying to win last-minute advantages for their own nations.
A joint statement by the Africans told the other WTO negotiators that 2,184,000 Africans had died from AIDS and other killer diseases since the issue became deadlocked last Dec. 16 following a US holdout.
“For us, the request by the African countries was a decisive factor. All of us couldn’t fail to be touched by that,” said Brazilian Ambassador Luis Felipe de Seixas Correa.
“They showed that the poorest among us do make a difference in this organization,” said Canadian Ambassador Sergio Marchi. “They helped the WTO find its heart and soul.” US Ambassador Linnet Deily hailed the agreement as a demonstration that WTO members “can and do come together to promote the greater good.”
The WTO’s supreme General Council yesterday morning finally gave approval to an agreement they looked to have settled late Thursday until last-minute political wrangling threw the whole deal into doubt.
Under WTO rules, countries facing public health crises have the right to override patents on vital drugs and order copies from cheaper, generic suppliers. However, until now they could only order from domestic producers — a useless loophole for the huge majority of developing countries that have no domestic pharmaceutical industry.
US pharmaceutical research companies were concerned that a deal allowing countries to import generic drugs would be abused by generics manufacturers and could also lead to drugs being smuggled back into rich countries.
