India’s TRIPS vindication at Geneva: Health over trade issues

‘‘Public health will get importance over trade issues’’. This declaration of the World Health Assembly (WHA) regarding t...

‘‘Public health will get importance over trade issues’’. This declaration of the World Health Assembly (WHA) regarding the TRIPS agreement for access to medicines at affordable prices, has been touted as a major victory for India by Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Briefing the media about her 13-day visit to Geneva to attend the WHA meeting, the minister said: ‘‘India’s effective intervention, several rounds of dialogue and meeting of the working groups led to accepting the viewpoint of developing countries who prioritised public health in comparison to trade.’’

Sushma also said that each individual country would need compulsory licensing to manufacture a patented drug. ‘‘Each sovereign country can lists its own health priorities and the government needs to take permission from the Director General, WHO for manufacturing the medicine,’’ she added.

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She said individual countries can set their price limits and take necessary steps to ensure that cost of medicines doesn’t exceed it.

Describing the meeting at Geneva as ‘‘successful”, she said the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control had been adopted by the WHA without dilution. Sushma added the election of India’s Comptroller and Auditor General by a majority was another feather in India’s cap.

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