Kenya Pressed to OK Affordable-Drug Bill

Activists from the medical industry and nongovernmental organizations launched a campaign Thursday to pressure members of parliament to approve a bill that could bring cheaper AIDS drugs to Kenya.

The push for favorably priced AIDS medication is the latest challenge to pharmaceutical companies in an increasingly sharp debate over protection of lucrative patents and access to affordable drugs.

The world’s biggest drug firms dropped a lawsuit against the South African government last month, paving the way for that country to make or buy cheaper medications. And in recent weeks, several pharmaceutical companies have slashed the prices of their antiretroviral products.

Kenya’s parliament is preparing to review the so-called Industrial Property Bill, which would allow the country to shop for the best global market price for the drugs and would give local manufacturers the ability to produce generic versions of patented medicines.

The bill would make Kenya compliant with the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. The accord guarantees protection of patents, copyrights and trademarks but allows states to formulate their own laws depending on their development and health needs.

“Every Kenyan has a friend or family member suffering from HIV-related infections,” said Christopher Ouma, a doctor who is spokesman for Action Aid Kenya, a nongovernmental organization.

“The Industrial Property Bill is a unique opportunity to ensure that Kenyan patients and doctors can legally access cheaper medicines to prolong and save lives,” Ouma said.

Advocates for cheaper AIDS drugs expressed concern that pharmaceutical companies might try to improperly influence lawmakers to kill or amend the bill.

Newton Kulundu, chairman of parliament’s Health Committee, said earlier this week that the pharmaceutical industry has a major stake in the debate and should be heard. But he dismissed claims that legislators could be manipulated.

“I don’t think we can be influenced,” Kulundu said in an interview with the local press. “But you don’t expect us to be so one-sided. There is no harm in listening to the other point of view.”

William Kiari, commercial director for Kenya’s GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, said the company accepts the proposal but is concerned about procedures for implementing it.

Samantha Bolton, Nairobi-based spokeswoman for the humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders, said Kenya has an AIDS emergency.

“Treatment is a matter of urgency because of the number of people who are dying at the prime of their life,” she said.

About 2.5 million Kenyans have the human immunodeficiency virus, according to local health officials, and about 500 people die every day from HIV-related complications. Only 1,000 to 2,000 people can afford treatment with anti-retroviral drugs, Ouma said.

More than 50% of Kenya’s 29 million people live in poverty. The government spends about $5 per person per year on health care.

“Knowing that there are legal barriers that prevent us from getting these [cheaper] drugs is really depressing at times,” said Patricia Asero Ochieng, 33, an AIDS activist who has been living with the virus for the last 11 years.

Her 4-month-old son died of AIDS-related complications in 1997. Her husband followed last year. Although he looked healthy, he caught pneumonia and died within two days, she said.

“I felt so bad, because I knew that if he had had access to antiretrovirals he would have been here with me today,” said Ochieng, who is raising two children, ages 11 and 14.

Kenya’s parliament is expected to vote on the bill when it returns from its May recess.

“It’s a matter of life and death,” Ochieng said. “If they vote well, then they can save lives.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report.