Médecins Sans Frontières closely monitors the India-EU FTA

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical aid to populations in distress in more than 80 countries, said it was closely monitoring the new India-EU trade agreement and would wait for the full disclosure of the text of the free trade agreement (FTA) to see how it would offer assistance to patients in India and around the world.

The agreement could contain provisions having consequences on access to medicines.

The group argued that issues such as data exclusivity that could effectively block compulsory licensing, patent term extensions, enforcement actions and border measures aimed at restraining imports or exports of goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights could have a considerable impact.

For patients living in India and all developing countries, these provisions could mean the difference between life or death. It is crucial that generic competition remains possible in India, experts note.

MSF has been providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) since 2000.

MSF, for example, sources more than 80% of the antiretroviral drugs used in its global AIDS projects from India. The availability of fixed-dose combination therapies (or three-in-one pills) has revolutionized AIDS treatment, something we have witnessed first-hand in our own programs.

Providing this suitable form of treatment to developing countries with limited resources was only possible because there were no patent constraints in India regarding the bundling of these drugs in a single tablet. Currently, 92% of people living with HIV and receiving treatment in low- and middle-income countries use generic antiretrovirals manufactured in India.

Since 2005, India has developed a patent law that balances the need for patients to access life-saving medicines at affordable prices and the profits of pharmaceutical companies.

Specifically, Indian patent law allows patient groups and other interested parties to object to frivolous or abusive patents through pre- or post-grant oppositions, and by setting stricter criteria for patentability, it has prevented a practice known as evergreening where corporate monopolies can be extended indefinitely.

MSF has long called for trade and investment agreements not to apply intellectual property provisions beyond WTO TRIPS standards due to their negative impact on access to affordable generic medicines.

This article has been revised for accuracy.