Global South health experts call for UK-India trade deal to protect access to medicines
Civil society groups and healthcare experts from across the Global South have called on the UK government to avoid striking a trade deal with India that would restrict access to affordable medicines in India and globally.
The UK are reportedly pushing for a trade deal which would extend intellectual property protections for pharmaceutical companies. Under these new rules, India would be obliged to extent patent monopolies, which currently stand at 20 years. This would delay the point at which cheaper generic alternatives can be manufactured.
According to a letter to the UK Business and International Trade Secretary, signed by 120 groups, these provisions could prevent India's thriving pharmaceutical industry from supplying affordable generic medicines to low and middle-income countries. The letter says "attacking India’s generics industry would be yet another act of global health vandalism".
India is the world's largest producer of generic drugs, which are sold around the world, including to the UK's National Health Service.