Brasilia- Brazil broke a patent protection for a drug used to treat AIDS on Friday, in a further step in the conflict over price rebates for medication in the Third World. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the relevant decree on Friday in Brasilia. This decision affects the medication Efavirenz produced by US pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme in the South American country.
"It is not possible for anyone to get rich with the misery of others. In a choice between our trade and our health, we will take care of our health," Lula said in his speech. "We are taking an important step. That is valid for this drug, but also for as many others as are necessary."
The decree guarantees a 72 per cent price rebate, the sources said.
Thailand announced its decision to break the Efavirenz patent in late 2006.
According to the Brazilian authorities, the South American country intends at first to purchase a similar, generic product from an Indian producer. Until now, Brazil obtained Efavirenz from Merck for a unit price of 1.59 dollars. Now it expects to pay 0.44 dollars per unit. The change is expected to lead to savings of at least 30 million dollars a year until 2012.
Later, Brazil intends to call upon local pharmaceutical companies for the production of an Efavirenz generic.
The Brazilian state provides free medication for all people infected with HIV. Currently, 75,000 patients are receiving free Efavirenz from the state, the health ministry said.
With over 200,000 registered cases, Brazil has the most AIDS patients in Latin America. Experts consider the country's information and prevention campaigns, as well as medical care for those infected, as setting an example on the global scale.
"The measure (to break the patent) is part of our policy to allow access to medication for the whole population. Given the prices demanded by companies, this access is often very difficult. We fight for fair prices," Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao said in the official cenemony in Planalto, the seat of government.
In prior negotiations, Gomes Temporao noted, Merck offered a 30 per cent rebate. This offer was rejected as insufficient, since according to the minister, Thailand pays only 0.75 dollars per unit of the same medication.
Brazil already announced patent breaches in 2001 and 2003, but shortly afterwards came to agreements with the affected producers of AIDS medication.
