wow after all the stir made of Bono's apperance at the Liberal Convetion I had a good feeling about where Canada was headed on this issue.. But how quickly we forget with Bill C-9 currently being discussed in the sub-committee right now,.. this is the time for Canadian to stand up and have their voive heard on this.. becasue even after letters from Bono and DATA and from all the speakers who presented it still seems this is going in the wrong direction. After getting a report back from the meetings it seems the committee already has there mind made up and it's not good . we need to change that
Flaws with the current Bill C-56 Drug and Patent Act
the provision that would allow patent-holding pharmaceutical companies to take over contracts negotiated by generic manufacturers with developing countries and thereby block the issuance of licence to the generic manufacturer, and to do so every 2 years;
? the existence of a limited list of pharmaceutical products covered by schedule 1 and a process for amending the schedule that does not adequately reflect or protect the right of sovereign countries to determine for themselves when to use compulsory licenses to importing generic pharmaceuticals;
? the exclusion of some countries from the scheme set out in Schedules 2 through 4, in particularly numerous developing countries facing public health needs with limited resources;
? the failure to let generics manufacturers supply lower-cost pharmaceuticals directly to non-governmental organizations delivering health care in developing countries
If the proper ammenmdment are not accepted such as Right of Refusal then it renders this effort kind of useless in a way.. Big Pharma companies will still be able to block The legal initiative, known as Bill C-9, will amend the Canadian Patent and the Food and Drug Act if Canada passes legislation that is ineffective and provides unnecessary entitlements to patent-holding multinational pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of poor patients in the developing world, the legislation will reflect poorly on Canada and ? most important - will be of little benefit to those who desperately need access to more affordable medicines.?
So although it was lovely to have Bono stand up and make the speech he did and it did draw attention. We need to put our money where our mouth is so to speak and act on this now, literally peoples lives depend on it!!
Flaws with the current Bill C-56 Drug and Patent Act
the provision that would allow patent-holding pharmaceutical companies to take over contracts negotiated by generic manufacturers with developing countries and thereby block the issuance of licence to the generic manufacturer, and to do so every 2 years;
? the existence of a limited list of pharmaceutical products covered by schedule 1 and a process for amending the schedule that does not adequately reflect or protect the right of sovereign countries to determine for themselves when to use compulsory licenses to importing generic pharmaceuticals;
? the exclusion of some countries from the scheme set out in Schedules 2 through 4, in particularly numerous developing countries facing public health needs with limited resources;
? the failure to let generics manufacturers supply lower-cost pharmaceuticals directly to non-governmental organizations delivering health care in developing countries
If the proper ammenmdment are not accepted such as Right of Refusal then it renders this effort kind of useless in a way.. Big Pharma companies will still be able to block The legal initiative, known as Bill C-9, will amend the Canadian Patent and the Food and Drug Act if Canada passes legislation that is ineffective and provides unnecessary entitlements to patent-holding multinational pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of poor patients in the developing world, the legislation will reflect poorly on Canada and ? most important - will be of little benefit to those who desperately need access to more affordable medicines.?
So although it was lovely to have Bono stand up and make the speech he did and it did draw attention. We need to put our money where our mouth is so to speak and act on this now, literally peoples lives depend on it!!
