Thu 11 Jun 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Concerns the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) could seriously compromise the availability of affordable HIV medications and treatment programmes appear to be supported up by newly-leaked documents about the deal. The Green Party says the Wikileaks papers prove the TPPA is a threat to the government’s drug buying agency Pharmac, and New Zealanders’ access to affordable medicine. The leaked information include a series of principles and procedures by which agencies like Pharmac must operate, which the Greens say are designed to let the pharmaceutical industry challenge Pharmac’s decision-making process, rendering Pharmac less effective at saving money. “The way Pharmac operates with its buying power assists New Zealanders get affordable access to medicines,” says Greens co-leader James Shaw. “The Government should not sign a trade deal that pushes up the price of medicine for New Zealanders in order to give new rights to US pharmaceutical companies.” The revelations follow concerns raised by respected former Australian High Court judge and global lgbti and HIV issues advocate Michael Kirby, during a recent visit to Wellington. He warned that under TPPA provisions being vigorously promoted by the United States government, any countries which opted out of HIV, and any other medications produced by the global pharmaceutical companies and used instead much cheaper generic versions would be in breach of the rules of the partnership and be exposed to legal action by the drug companies. Body Positive’s Mark Fisher agreed that what he’d heard about the agreement implied that Pharmac could end up forced to pay for high priced HIV medications when cheaper versions are available. There has long been an uneasy relationship between big pharma and those at the coal face of HIV treatment.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 11th June 2015 - 12:57pm