THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

1. February 2012

India is known as the “Pharmacy of the developing world” for producing and supplying affordable generic drugs to more than 150 developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. More than 80% of all donor-funded ARVs purchased since 2006 were supplied by Indian generic manufacturers. Countries across sub-Saharan Africa with high HIV/AIDS burdens, as well as India, are heavily reliant on the availability of Indian-produced generic ARVs to support their national treatment programmes. Also the Program SMART in Southern Africa which is supported by SolidarMed relies on Indian generic medicines: in the antiretroviral therapies for adults and children and in the prevention of HIV-transfer from the mother to the child only Indian generics are used, financed by the Global Fund and PEPFAR.

Novartis is trying to destroy this „Pharmacy of the poor“ and attacks the Indian patent law and the Government of India: Novartis is challenging section 3(d) of Indian Patent Law in the Supreme Court of India. Through this court case, Novartis is attempting to weaken Section 3(d), a provision specifically designed by the Indian Parliament to prevent drug companies from abusively patenting known medicines. The next hearing will take place on 28 February 2012.

The Steering Committee of aidsfocus.ch decided unanimously to support the petition “Take your claws off our medicines” launched by Act-up Basel. With the petition, we demand from Novartis to drop the case against the Indian government and the Indian patent law.

aidsfocus.ch considers the right to health care as a human right, and demands equity in access and access to free or at least affordable ARV treatments for all. If the Indian patent law is revised, India would no longer be allowed to manufacture generics and to supply much of the developing world with cheap essential medicines – with a devastating impact on women, men and children living with HIV.

The treatment of 6,65 million people living with HIV in low and middle income countries is not only due to the commitment of activists, NGOs and international institutions. Price reductions were a result of robust generic competition among Indian manufacturers in an environment largely void of intellectual property barriers. Indian manufacturers of generic antiretroviral (ARV) medicines facilitated the rapid scale up of HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries though provision of low-priced, quality-assured medicines. The legal framework in India that facilitated such production and the competition is what brought the cost of HIV treatment down by 99% over the past decade. Today, the majority of people on first-line of ARVs in low- and middle-income countries receive the combination of lamivudine/stavudine/nevirapine (3TC/d4T/NVP). Thanks to generic competition, this regimen now costs $61 per patient per year.

If Novartis wins this case and manages to change the interpretation of Section 3(d) to obtain the patent for its cancer drug Imatinib Mesylate, then India will be forced to grant more and more patents that will eventually result in killing generic production and increasing drug prices exorbitantly: The end if the “Pharmacy of developing countries”.

At the same time, the revenues of Novartis are rising. In the financial year 2011 it accounted to 58,57 billion US$, a rise of 16% compared to the year before. Also Daniel Vasella income rose again substantially.

It is inacceptable that people living with HIV and AIDS – or NGOs, foundations and governments who support ARV-treatment programs – should pay the price for the horrendous extra pay for managers.

Sign the petition!

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland

1. February 2012 - Novartis is threatening India’s capacity to provide affordable drugs to millions of people worldwide in need of ARV by challenging the Indian Patent Law in the Supreme Court of India. The next hearing will take place in New Delhi on the 28th of February 2012. The Steering Committee of aidsfocus.ch decided unanimously to support the petition launched by Act-up Basel. With the petition, Novartis is asked to drop the case against the Indian government and the Indian patent law. aidsfocus.ch considers the right to health care as a human right, and demands equity in access and access to free or at least affordable ARV treatments for all.

http://actupbasel.org

Hearing of Novartis AG’s (Novartis’) challenge to the order of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) rejecting its patent application for Gleevec (beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate), an anti-cancer drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. The outcome of this case will affect not only the patenting of this particular anti-cancer drug, but will also determine the position in India on patenting of new forms of already known drugs. Novartis has challenged the IPAB’s interpretation of section 3(d) of India’s patent law and its application to Novartis’ patent application for the beta-crystalline form of an already known substance, imatinib mesylate.

http://www.lawyerscollective.org
http://www.lawyerscollective.org

In 2006, drug giant Novartis took the Indian government to court over its new patent law, in a move that threatened access to affordable medicines produced in India for millions of people across the developing world. The DROP THE CASE campaign called on drug giant, Novartis, to drop its legal case aimed at gutting India’s patent law of important public health safeguards. The law allows companies in India to produce affordable generic medicines on which MSF and other care providers in developing countries heavily rely to do their work. Background information, toolkit and news.

http://www.msfaccess.org

Indian manufacturers of generic antiretroviral (ARV) medicines facilitated the rapid scale up of HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries though provision of low-priced, quality-assured medicines. The legal framework in India that facilitated such production, however, is changing with implementation of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and intellectual property measures being discussed in regional and bilateral free trade agreement negotiations. The study shows that from 2003 to 2008, the number of Indian generic manufactures supplying ARVs increased from four to 10 while the number of Indian-manufactured generic products increased from 14 to 53. Ninety-six of 100 countries purchased Indian generic ARVs in 2008, including high HIV-burden sub-Saharan African countries.(Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2010)

http://www.jiasociety.org

Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho are 3 countries with a high prevalence of HIV infection where ART delivery has been scaled up in the last few years. SolidarMed, a Swiss nongovernmental organization, established the SolidarMed AntiRetroviral Treatment (SMART) program in 2005, with a focus on supporting the delivery of ART and health care in rural settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The study examined the importance of no follow-up after initiation of ART and mortality and loss to follow-up over 3 years of ART in the SMART programs in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, as well as Lesotho. (JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 1 February 2012)

http://www.aidsfocus.ch
http://www.solidarmed.ch

The revised version of the SDC Toolkit on "Mainstreaming HIV in Practice" takes up new elements and adapted others to the current concepts and terminologies. The CD Rom which accompanies the Toolkit includes many new resources, such as capitalisation products of HIV mainstreaming activities supported by the SDC. The Toolkit exhibits approaches to mainstreaming HIV and provides practical information on "how to do it" for those who want to begin mainstreaming, as well as helps those who have already started and wish to strengthen their mainstreaming activities. The Toolkit is specifically designed for SDC staff and partners, but it is a valuable resource of information and guidance for everyone working in the field of international cooperation. (December 2012)

http://www.swisstph.ch

New Delhi, 6 February 2012 - On the 10th of February 2012, at the EU-India Summit to be held in Delhi, the EU & India will agree on and finalize the political framework for the FTA. Groups in India are worried. Since 2007, people living with HIV in India and across the world have been resisting the pressure of the EC on India to sign an FTA with provisions on intellectual property that will endanger access to generic medicines from India. Delhi Network of Positive People & Lawyers Collective call for a week of action: “We must once more show the EC and the Indian government that our lives cannot be traded away!”

http://www.lawyerscollective.org
http://donttradeourlivesaway.wordpress.com

Nairobi/Johannesburg, 2 February 2012 - The appointment of a new general manager, Gabriel Jaramillo, at the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis could be a "turning point" for the troubled organization, which has suffered from a funding crisis and allegations of corruption. Jaramillo, a former CEO of Spain's Sovereign Bank and special adviser to the Office of the Special Envoy for Malaria of the UN Secretary-General, was a member of an independent panel set up in March 2011 to investigate the Global Fund's fiduciary controls and oversight mechanisms after allegations of grant fraud in several recipient countries. Among other things, the panel recommended the Fund strengthen its internal governance, improve its risk management and "get serious about results". (IRIN/PlusNews)

http://www.irinnews.org

Addis Ababa, 28 January 2012 — UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé called on African governments to take on a greater share of AIDS investments in their own countries and across the region. An estimated two-thirds of AIDS expenditures in Africa come from international funding sources, according to a new UNAIDS issues brief titled “AIDS dependency crisis: sourcing African solutions.” The vast majority of life-saving antiretroviral medicines consumed in Africa are imported from generic manufacturers. While the costs of HIV drug regimens have declined significantly in recent years, they remain high and unsustainable, and prices must be further reduced to reach all people eligible for treatment.

http://www.unaids.org

Davos, 26 January 2012 - Bill Gates and Global Fund Board Chairman Simon Bland have just wrapped up a press conference at the WEF in Davos, celebrating the Global Fund's tenth birthday this week. The Global Fund's achievements in funding the treatment of HIV, TB and malaria and saving millions of lives over the last ten years was noted - but disturbingly, it has emerged that the global economic crisis has left the Fund short to the tune of $2 billion. Médecins Sans Frontières is concerned at this shortfall and has issued the below quote in response, urging donor governments to commit to funding the Global Fund by holding an emergency donor conference. “On top of voluntary funding, we also need predictable mechanisms - such as the financial transaction tax currently being debated in Europe - with part of funds generated to be dedicated to global health, including the Global Fund."

http://www.msfaccess.org

Maputo, 23 January 2012 — The outgoing Brazilian ambassador, Antonio de Sousa e Silva, on Monday assured Mozambican reporters that the pharmaceutical plant to produce anti-retroviral drugs, which is being built with Brazilian support, will begin its operations in the second half of this year. Sousa e Silva said that the construction of the anti-retroviral factory was the major event in cooperation between Brazil and Mozambique in those four years. Summarising relations between the two countries, he said that over the past four years the pace of cooperation has picked up, "and I am very satisfied". (allAfrica.com)

http://www.safaids.net

The Alliance report on the Global Fund is warning of an impending HIV/AIDS crisis following its assessment on the impact of the $2 billion shortfall announced by the Global Fund last year. ‘Don’t Stop Now’ reviews the impact of the cuts in five countries that will be particularly hard hit: Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Sudan, Bangladesh and Bolivia. Sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who use drugs are populations that have traditionally struggled to access HIV funding as many governments are often unwilling to spend money on groups whose practices are often unpopular and/or criminalised. (2012)

http://www.aidsalliance.org

Outcomes for people taking antiretroviral treatment in Médecins sans Frontières’ (MSF) integrated general healthcare programmes were as good or better than those in vertical HIV programmes, researchers report in a nine-country study published in the advance online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. While those in integrated programmes may have started ART at a more advanced disease stage, the risk of death was similar to those in vertical programmes but loss to follow-up was less among patients followed for up to 30 months. The authors say this analysis “validates the programme design of integration and its associated benefits”. (13 January 2012)

http://www.aidsmap.com

Over ten years after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) began providing antiretroviral treatment to a limited number of people in urgent need of treatment, some MSF projects have been able to reach and maintain ‘universal access’ to treatment. This MSF briefing document comprehensively explains what has happened, why and the impact; it also includes in-depth country profiles on the current state of their HIV treatment programs and potential impact of the GF funding short fall on the following affected countries where MSF works: DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (February 2012)

http://www.msfaccess.org

Women are more likely to die—relative to males—in many low- and middle-income countries than their counterparts in rich countries especially in childhood and during their reproductive years. These deaths are estimated at about 3.9 million women and girls under the age of 60 each year. The impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the mortality of women in many Eastern and Southern African countries have been dramatic. The reason for the greater prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women relative to men is their greater susceptibility and the greater likelihood that their sexual partners are older and thus more likely than younger men to have HIV. (World Bank 2011)

http://wdronline.worldbank.org

Berne |Support groups of people living with HIV turn more and more into advocacy groups to stand up for their interests and rights. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa has held government accountable for health care service delivery, campaigned against official AIDS denialism, challenged the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies to make treatment more affordable and cultivated community leadership on HIV and AIDS. Advocacy is a key component in the struggle towards an AIDSfree future generation and the fulfilment of the right to health for all. The aidsfocus.ch conference 2012 will focus on advocacy and open space for sharing, discussion and joint learning on experiences, visions and strategies to end the epidemic.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch
http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Washington DC | AIDS 2012 will bring together leading scientists, public health experts, policy-makers and the HIV-affected community to translate recent momentous scientific advances into action that will address means to end the epidemic, within the current context of significant global economic challenges. The conference theme, “Turning the Tide Together”, reflects a unique moment in time, emphasizing that the HIV epidemic has reached a defining moment. Washington DC, 22-27 July 2012

http://www.aids2012.org

Partners: Afro-European Medical and Research Network, AIDS & Child, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, INTERTEAM, Kindernothilfe Schweiz, Kwa Wazee, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, missio, SolidarMed, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Aids Federation, Missio, Mission 21, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund, Swiss MIVA, Swiss Red Cross, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Tear Fund, Terre des hommes Foundation, terre des hommes schweiz, and World Vision Switzerland.

http://www.aidsfocus.c