Thailand Goes Against Patent Laws To Treat AIDS

Thailand once was a beacon in the use of education and awareness in fighting AIDs. Sadly, that focus has been blurred now, to where the younger generation thinks of it as "an old people's disease". Perhaps Thailand should redirect their efforts towards edcuation instead of ripping off pharmcos under the guise of altruism. This article sums up the past and present AIDs situation in Thailand. It's an easy read:

There are very few developing countries in the world where public policy has been effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS on a national scale, but Thailand is an exception. A massive programme to control HIV has reduced visits to commercial sex workers by half, raised condom usage, decreased the prevalence of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) dramatically, and achieved substantial reductions in new HIV infections. 1

Thailand, though, is also a reminder that success can be relative. Its well funded, politically supported and comprehensive prevention programmes have saved millions of lives, reducing the number of new HIV infections from 143,000 in 1991 to 19,000 in 2003. 2 Nonetheless, more than one-in-100 adults in this country of 65 million people is infected with HIV, and AIDS has become a leading cause of death. 3

Unless past efforts are sustained and new sources of infection are addressed, the striking achievements made in controlling the epidemic could now be put at risk. Factors such as an increase in risky sexual behaviour and a rising number of STI cases have led to concerns that Thailand could face a resurgence of HIV and AIDS in coming years. The government has decreased funding for AIDS prevention programmes significantly, and there are signs that public awareness is waning. Complacency - among both the government and the public – poses a real threat to the fight against AIDS in Thailand. 4

www.avert.org...

Emphasis added.

Originally posted by df1
The profit motive is far more stable, reliable, and pervasive as a method of making money, but not as a method for developing medications for people.

Clearly, this is false. Please list the drug treatments invented in the past dozen years that resulted from pure altruism, not profit.

Controlling the spread disease is of benefit to everybody, even capitalists, not just those receiving the medication.

Indeed, public health is important. The question is, who is better at inventing new medecines, pharmaceutical companies, non-profit collectives, or the government?

The actions of Thailand may very well be insuring your health.

On the other hand, what new drug regimes has Thailand invented in the past, 50, 60, or even 100 years?

jackofblades
If a country can;t afford your cures, they should make it themselves.

Indeed, they have a responsiblity to do so. They are the Jean Val Jean's of the pharmaceutical industry.
But still, what if there were no bakers to make the bread? Val Jean and his sister would've starved to death right then and there.

the doctor is concerned with our wellbeing, but thats only because he has to see you suffer

I have never met anyone that was a doctor and did it for free. I have never met anyone that was going through med school and pre-med, taking on these personal loans, and not expecting to make a good deal of money back, even if they 'like the idea of helping people'.

The government has decreased funding for AIDS prevention programmes significantly, and there are signs that public awareness is waning

Thats astounding.

And also, lets talk conspiracy here.
What if the Thai drug companies conspired with the Thai government, where its illegal apparently to even insult the Monarch, and could get you a public beating by the fanatical citizens, to reduce spending on prevention, to cause an increase in infection, thus having more people to be available to buy the aids medecines that they've stolen, which they are selling for a profit.

I mean, if there's any conspiracy, why not that?

And if this is all about altruism, then why are they still selling the drugs? They're not giving them out to everyone that needs them, they are stealing a product, and then selling it at a lower, but still highly profitable, price.

Good for Thailand, good for the world. Money excluded, this is a world, a planet, as a people together We should learn to share, grow forth and prosper for the happiness and well Being of all humanity, not only for individualized countries and Not only for monetary profit.

A stable, balanced, undictated future is a future beyond money; it is a future perpetuated through caring, kindness, free sharing, unbounded imaginative potential, and love based on the simple, yet amazing fact that We exist

And also, lets talk conspiracy here.
What if the Thai drug companies conspired with the Thai government, where its illegal apparently to even insult the Monarch, and could get you a public beating by the fanatical citizens, to reduce spending on prevention, to cause an increase in infection, thus having more people to be available to buy the aids medecines that they've stolen, which they are selling for a profit.

My antenna went up when I saw the estimated savings to the Thai gov't. A mere $24 million? Why risk international ire for such a relatively paltry amount?

I would bet that the de-emphasis of AIDs education, coupled with the re-selling of these purloined drugs brings in far more to the "gov't".

[edit on 30-1-2007 by jsobecky]

Originally posted by Nygdan

Well, of course. You're stealing drugs. That tends to be pretty cost effective.


Its all well and good as long as there is someone actually inventing the drugs in the first place, but clearly it wouldn't work worldwide. I mean, I think that any nation really has no choice here, they have to dole out the drugs that will save so many lives, but still, the drug business is just that, a business, not a charity. They're not in it to cure diseases, they're there to make a profit, and its because of that that we even have these drugs at all.

Actually technically they were not. They were working well within the parameters of the Indian Patents Act of the time. They had every right to do so. The governement allowed them to do so. Why?

2 reasons

1. To provide low cost medication to the public at large. India, despite its its phenomonal growth in the recent past, still has a lot of people living in poverty. It needs all the low cost medicines it can get

2. To help the nascent (at that time) pharmaceutical industry grow, and grow fast. It lent them support so that they were able to catch up with the West asap, to the point that today they are considered some of the most promising companies in the world. Sure they are midgets compared to some western giants, but they have reached a point where they can survive and comptete with these giants, and in many cases even beat them at their own game.

Here is a link outlining some facts of the Indian Pharma Industry

Link1

See the problem as i see it, was simply one of choice. Do you let the Western Giants dictate what medicines your people can and cannot afford, or do you try and create a homegrown industry that is capable of providing for your countries needs, both present and future, in an effective AND economical way.

Thailand finds itself in a similar situation as i see it

EDIT: Double Post

[edit on 30/1/2007 by puneetsg]

Originally posted by puneetsg
Actually technically they were not. They were working well within the parameters of the Indian Patents Act of the time.

Yes. THe indian government is stealing other people's research, and allowing their own companies to sell it for profit. I understand that what they are doing is perfectly legal in india.

but they have reached a point where they can survive and comptete with these giants, and in many cases even beat them at their own game.

Not for nothing, but they're not inventing major new drug lines, so I don't see how they can be said to be in good competition with the US companies. They can clearly swamp out the other companies when it comes to selling the drugs.

See the problem as i see it, was simply one of choice. Do you let the Western Giants dictate what medicines your people can and cannot afford, or do you try and create a homegrown industry that is capable of providing for your countries needs, both present and future, in an effective AND economical way.

I agree, they've got to choose between letting thousands, even millions, die, or stealing someone elses research and products. Clearly, people are more important than products.
BUT, how does this secure their future? If there is no respect for intellectual property, then there is no motive to make new materials. The 'western giants' might very well one day have a cure for things like aids, malaria, cancer, etc, but the indian drug companies aren't ever going to create it.

If things like this continue, reputable governments will have to enact new patent laws securing the confidentiality of drug molecular composition and extend the time patents are enforceable. Maybe they'll have to reduce the amount of safety and effective testing to reduce development costs, or perhaps new drugs will simply not be made anymore since it is no longer profitable to do so.

I don't think any of these are attractive options.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Yes. THe indian government is stealing other people's research, and allowing their own companies to sell it for profit. I understand that what they are doing is perfectly legal in india.

Actually you are wrong. It is not legal in India anymore. The Indian Patent Laws are very much in line with the TRIPs of the WTO. BUT despite this fact the Indian Pharma Industry is thriving and flourishing. This is directly related to the support which the government gave them earlier. That is my point

Not for nothing, but they're not inventing major new drug lines, so I don't see how they can be said to be in good competition with the US companies. They can clearly swamp out the other companies when it comes to selling the drugs.

Who is 'they' here? Are you talking about Indian Companies or their Western counterparts? And yes, they are incresing spending on R&D severalfold each successive year, and they are working on new durg lines too.

I agree, they've got to choose between letting thousands, even millions, die, or stealing someone elses research and products. Clearly, people are more important than products.
BUT, how does this secure their future? If there is no respect for intellectual property, then there is no motive to make new materials. The 'western giants' might very well one day have a cure for things like aids, malaria, cancer, etc, but the indian drug companies aren't ever going to create it.

I find the last statement quite 'pompous'. Why is it that the Indian companies or the Chinese for that matter incapable of creating cures for major diseases?? Like i mentioned, R&D is going up every year, as for the brains to do the work, surely you agree that the East has enough of that. And lastly, if we are to talk about experience in the medical field, i find no reason to believe that our doctors & researchers are in any way less capable than those produced by the West.