December 15, 2015 Source : The Malay Mail Online
PETALING JAYA, Dec 15 — Two independent cost-benefit analyses of
Malaysia’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) failed
to disprove fears that generic medicines will become more expensive if
the country joins the deal, a DAP lawmaker asserted today.
DAP MP Charles Santiago insisted that the studies by the Institute of
Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and PricewaterhouseCooper
(PwC) only said that Malaysia will be allowed "timely access" to the
medicines and neglected to mention their affordability.
"This simply means that medicines both, generic and biologic, will be
made available, but whether or not the prices will go up, it did not
say. However, price of drugs is surely to go up because of exclusivity
rights given to pharmaceutical companies," the Klang MP told a news
conference.
He insisted that the deal would lead to longer patent and exclusivity
periods, which would allow pharmaceutical companies to dictate pricing.
He also said the intellectual property chapter of the TPP text
contradicted the Malaysian National Medical Policy (MNMP), which he
noted calls for affordable healthcare and not timely access.
Saying that Malaysians rely heavily on generic medicine, Santiago said
the sick are surely to suffer financially if Malaysia signs the TPP. He
also cited a report that said 45 per cent of cancer patients here were
already facing “financial catastrophe” due to treatment costs that
exceed a third of their annual income.
The TPP is a free trade agreement that has been negotiated by the US,
Malaysia and ten other nations as part of the larger Trans-Pacific
Strategic Economic Partnership since 2010.
Negotiations were concluded in October and Putrajaya must table the
agreement in Parliament for debate and approval to sign the deal.
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