(Approved 15 March 2001)
Minutes of 15/03/2001 - Provisional Edition
Access to medicines for AIDS patients in the Third World B5-0182/2001
European Parliament resolution on access to drugs for HIV/AIDS victims
in the Third World
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on AIDS and sexually
transmitted diseases,
A. whereas 95% of people infected with HIV live in the developing
world, including more than 25 million in sub-Saharan Africa, one of
the world's most infected regions,
B. whereas over half of all new cases are amongst young people under
the age of 25, who make up the most economically active part of the
population, and each 15-year-old in South Africa has a 50% risk of
becoming infected and dying from AIDS,
C. whereas it is predicted that in South Africa, where 1 in 10 South
Africans are HIV positive, HIV/AIDS will reduce life expectancy by 20
years by 2010, and whereas hundreds of thousands of South Africans die
every year from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,
D. whereas anti-retroviral drugs have already reduced the number of
AIDS deaths in Europe and the USA by 75%, but the price of these drugs
keeps these medicines out of reach of millions of infected people,
notably in Africa,
E. whereas the Commission's February 2001 Communication on a
Programme of Actions to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis
includes a commitment to tiered pricing where developing countries pay
the lowest possible price for medicines, an acknowledgement of the
possibility of exploring the best use of compulsory licensing systems
and a commitment to launch a debate in the WTO on reconciling the
TRIPS agreements with the objectives of health protection in
developing countries,
F. whereas Article 31 of the WTO/TRIPS Agreement permits a country to
enact national laws permitting the use of a patented product without
the authorisation of the patent-holder (compulsory licensing) under
certain specified circumstances,
G. whereas many drugs are unaffordable because of patents which allow
the companies a monopoly for 20 years from the date when the patent is
filed,
H. whereas the court case between 39 pharmaceutical companies and the
South African Government over the terms of its 1997 Medicines Act has
now been adjourned in order that the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
Association of South Africa can provide the information requested by
Judge Ngoepe,
I. whereas the Kenyan Government has announced its intention to
implement a law that would allow it to obtain cheap life-saving
medicines, under the provisions of the current TRIPS Agreement,
J. whereas the US has taken legal action in the framework of the
TRIPS Agreement at the WTO against Brazil, which has shown that
through improvements in its health care system, combined with the
provision of generic medicines, it is possible to halve the mortality
rate of people with AIDS, for allowing the national production of
generic medicines,
K. whereas the EU has asked the new US Administration to work with it
on an initiative to get anti-AIDS drugs to the developing world at
prices it can afford and this issue will be dealt with at the EU-US
June Summit in Stockholm,
L. whereas tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and
sleeping sickness kill millions of people each year, particularly
because of the increase in resistance or the non-existence of
treatments due to research having been abandoned simply on grounds of
commercial profitability,
1. Calls for the development of a system allowing developing
countries equitable access to medicines and vaccines at affordable
prices, while expressing its solidarity and support for the
Governments of South Africa and Kenya in their struggle to use
WTO-compliant legislation to gain access to the cheapest possible
life-saving medicines;
2. In this context welcomes the statement by Commissioner Lamy that
the Commission supports the right of developing countries to use the
safeguards in the WTO/TRIPS Agreement, including compulsory licensing,
and the commitment by the Commission to launch a debate in the WTO on
reconciling the TRIPS Agreement with objectives regarding health
protection in developing countries;
3. Calls on the pharmaceutical companies that issued a legal
challenge to the South African 1997 Medicines Act to withdraw from the
case;
4. While respecting the intellectual property rights of the
pharmaceutical industry, calls on the Commission to strengthen the
ability of developing countries to resist the pressure to introduce
more stringent patent laws than those currently required under the WTO
TRIPS Agreement;
5. Calls on the Commission to work with the Member States to show
international leadership in the struggle for life-saving medicines by
encouraging technology transfer and support for the strengthening
and/or development of local production capacity;
6. Calls for the current review of the TRIPS Agreement to ensure that
the rights of developing countries to obtain the cheapest possible
life-saving medicines, whether patented or generic, are guaranteed,
and further calls on all the interested parties to actively engage in
this process;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the
Commission, the Council, the WTO, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly and the OAU.