News from Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the citizens-based Ontario Health Coalition
The “most harmful trade pact ever for access to medications”
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) issued a statement today with a dire warning about the impact of the newest trade deal on the cost of drugs. The TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), is called a trade agreement by the media, but actually goes far beyond trade and includes many provisions that limit or stop the power of governments to regulate corporations.
The TPP is, “on track to become the most harmful trade pact ever for access to medicines in developing countries, unless damaging provisions are removed before the deal is sealed,” according to Doctors Without Borders. A humanitarian agency, Doctors Without Borders works in 70 countries, and often is a first-responder in disaster areas of the world. They are worried that the TPP will damage people’s ability to get needed medicines by driving up costs.
The Council of Canadians is also warning that the current trade deals that are being negotiated in secret threaten the possibility of creating a national drug plan in Canada. Sometimes called “pharmacare”, a Canadian public drug insurance plan would work to help control the high cost of drugs through bulk-buying and other controls, and would provide public drug coverage for Canadians, just like Public Medicare covers hospital costs and doctors’ appointments.
Currently Canadians pay the second highest prices for drugs in the developed world, with only the U.S. paying more. Because the trade deals will limit governments’ ability to regulate drug prices, the Council is concerned that they will ruin efforts to win public pharmacare for Canadians.
To date in the federal election campaign, the Green Party, the Liberals and the NDP all have committed to proposals for controlling the high costs of drugs in Canada and/or working towards pharmacare. (There are differences in the scope of what each of these parties are proposing.)
The Conservatives have made no commitments on these issues and have refused to meet with the provinces to move forward on a pharmacare plan for Canadians. For an up-to-date comparison of the parties’ positions see our party platform review charge at: http://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/federal-election-2015/
Parts of the trade deals have been leaked and show that the U.S. is insisting that countries signing onto the trade deals must agree to longer patent protection for drug companies. This means that brand name drug companies would be able to charge high prices without competition for years longer, costing governments and patients millions of dollars more for access to needed medications.
What You Can Do:
Sign on to the letter to the Prime Minister from Doctors Without Borders. Read their briefing note and sign on here: http://www.msf.ca/en/trans-pacific-partnership
Read the briefing notes from the Council of Canadians here: http://canadians.org/blog/three-things-look-tpp-talks-are-expected-conclude-today and http://canadians.org/media/trade-deals-poison-pill-canadian-national-pharmacare
Tell the candidates when they come to your door for the federal election that you don’t want Canada to sign onto trade deals that will hurt Canadians’ and other peoples’ livelihoods and increase the cost of drugs across the world.
Ask the candidates what they will do to stop the proposed trade deals and their increase in the cost of drugs at your local all-candidates debates.
Vote for health care for more information go to: http://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/federal-election-2015/
For more information about the Ontario Health Coalition and the many health care issues it is addressing visit – www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca
Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary for and from the greater bi-national Niagara region.
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