Dangerous AIDS Policy,Drug patents are not the problem

By THOMPSON AYODELE | From today's Wall Street Journal Europe

LAGOS, Nigeria, Today, as we mark World AIDS Day, we should take stock of the suffering this disease continues to inflict, particularly in
developing countries.

Twenty-five years after the disease was first discovered, AIDS continues to claim around two million lives each year. As an African, I've witnessed the suffering first-hand. My home region of sub-Saharan Africa has 12% of the world's population, but accounts for two-thirds of those infected with AIDS and 75% of all AIDS-related deaths.

Western activists continue to blame the high price of drugs for the
disease's continued prevalence in Africa. They argue that poor countries should be permitted to break pharmaceutical patents to produce cheap knock-off versions at home.

Unfortunately, the activists are not just wrong; their policy proposal is flat-out dangerous. The real causes of restricted access to AIDS drugs are Africa's derelict transportation systems, widespread corruption and poor utility infrastructure.

Most of the high-quality AIDS drugs that Africa imports have to be
transported over vast distances and stored for extended periods of time before they can be distributed. But the roads and warehouses in most African countries are poorly maintained. Electricity, needed to keep drugs refrigerated, is scarce. Corrupt officials often exploit weaknesses in the supply chain, and extort hefty bribes from aid personnel.

In 2001, African leaders pledged to invest 15% of their budgets in
health-care infrastructure. Seven years later, very few have come even close to meeting that commitment. Nigeria, for example, devotes less than 6% of its budget to health. Most of Africa's impoverished people still lack health insurance. Medical workers earn low wages, which has led to low morale and a dearth of qualified personnel. The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwifes says the country's hospitals urgently need 300,000 additional nurses.

The trade policies of African governments often make the AIDS problem worse. Generic drugs imported into Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are subject to a 10% tariff. The rate jumps to 40% in Sierra Leone, and to 50% in Kenya. Nigeria charges an import tariff of up to 39%.

Giving African governments the power to locally manufacture
patent-protected pharmaceuticals will likely result in patients receiving low-quality drugs. In Thailand and India, for example, locally produced Aids drugs are often of such low quality that they're actually fueling drug resistance.

Western drug companies have already gone to great lengths to make their drugs affordable to the world's poorest patients. Many use tiered pricing models, in which Western customers pay substantially higher prices than people in poor countries. And just last year, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Pfizer donated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of drugs to Africa.

On World AIDS Day, it's important to look at how the West can better assist the developing world in its battle against this deadly disease. But we cannot forget that local governments need to play their part as well.

Instead of meddling with patent protections, without which there would be no drug innovation, they need to clean up their policies.

Mr. Ayodele is executive director of Initiative for Public Policy Analysis.



 

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