Topic and Country Assignments Global Classrooms Topic and Country Assignments

Our Countries are… Togo Azerbaijan Congo Lebanon El Salvador Source: http://www.google.es/imgres?imgurl=http://geology.com/world/world-map.gif&imgrefurl=http://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml&h=715&w=1200&sz=98&tbnid=WyeCmd4K74fpMM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=151&zoom=1&usg=__hKLt0UL3_I_m9lGzOEBIP_MoqIk=&docid=19EM_yJbKFXQIM&sa=X&ei=f1RxUvr7IMvH7AbK-4GADQ&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAQ

Where are they? Source: http://www.google.es/imgres?imgurl=http://geology.com/world/world-map.gif&imgrefurl=http://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml&h=715&w=1200&sz=98&tbnid=WyeCmd4K74fpMM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=151&zoom=1&usg=__hKLt0UL3_I_m9lGzOEBIP_MoqIk=&docid=19EM_yJbKFXQIM&sa=X&ei=f1RxUvr7IMvH7AbK-4GADQ&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAQ

Africa: Togo and Congo

Central America: El Salvador

The Middle East: Lebanon and Azerbaijan Source: http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/middleeast.html

The Groups are… Togo: María, Lorena, Alberto Azerbaijan: Andrea, Wisal, Adrián Congo: Vivian, David, Jesus **Let me clarify which Congo and I will let you know via email Lebanon: Elisa, Adán, Irene El Salvador: Alvaro, Manuela, Christian, Patricia

Our Conference Topic Is… GENERIC DRUGS UN Committee: World Health Organisation (WHO) Source: https://d3ojdig7p1k9j.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/generic-drugs.jpg

World Health Organisation Agency of the UN that provides leadership on global health matters Has 194 member nations Provides support and information on issues like food safety, HIV/AIDS, maternal health and scientific research Source: http://www.puntlandi.net/?p=430

Generic Drugs “A pharmaceutical product usually intended to be interchangeable with an innovative product that is manufactured without a license from the innovator company and marketed after the expiration date of the patent or other exclusive rights.”

Patents “A title granted by public authorities that confers a temporary monopoly for the exploitation of an invention on the person who registers it, furnishes a sufficiently clear and full description of it and claims this monopoly.” Forbids others from using the invention without the inventors’ permission Drug patents are usually in effect for 17-20 years After this period, other companies can produce and sell the drug without permission: AKA generic drugs Same chemical formula as the expensive major brand but at a much cheaper price

How are Generic Drugs Made and Why are they so Cheap? Major pharmaceutical companies put a lot of money into research and development of the drug and therefore charge a lot of money Generic drug companies have the chemical formula already available to them (no R&D) and do not have to worry about the expensive and time-consuming regulatory testing. Thus they do not need to charge as much money to make money.

Why do we care? Generic drugs are cheaper and therefore allow impoverished people to access drugs 8 million people in low and middle-income countries currently receive drugs for HIV/AIDS which would not be possible without generic drugs

But then what is the problem? Impoverished people need cheap generic drugs, but major pharmaceutical companies need to make money in order to research and develop drugs. If they can’t make money  No drugs No drugs  No treatment

The Road to Becoming a Drug A need is determined Research is done to find the best chemical formula (usually on the cell or protein level) The drug is put through a series of regulatory tests assigned by the government for the safety of people Cells  Animals  Human Trials (Clinical Trials) If the drug passes all the tests it can then be patented The drug can then be sold to consumers

On the Political Level In 1994 the World Trade Organization protected big pharmaceutical companies via the TRIPS (Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement However, a country could override the patent protection by issuing a “compulsory license” when they were in the midst of an epidemic

On the Political Level However, many countries began to abuse their compulsory licenses Ex. Thailand in 2006 was not able to negotiate a cheap enough price with Pharm companies and issued a compulsory license for cancer drugs Diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, and Heart Disease are known as non-communicable diseases as they are not passed from person to person. Again, Big Pharma companies need the money to do research and development of new drugs

Current Situation Generic Drug production is increasing Research and Development costs are increasing Big Pharma companies have introduced tiered pricing based on their clients income level Helps low income countries but not middle income countries Main problem surrounds HIV/AIDS drugs, whose patents are quickly expiring and which are expertly produced at low prices in countries like India

Further Problems Many second line drugs (newer versions of the drug with less resistance or toxicity) are still under patents and impoverished countries must rely on older, less effective methods While countries like the United States have put forth a lot of effort into making sure poor countries have access to HIV/AIDS drugs, they have also increased patent protection on non-communicable disease drugs. They argue that cancer and diabetes are less of an emergency than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.

Source Global Classrooms. “World Health Organization (WHO), Topic: Generic Drugs.” Global Classrooms 2013. Print.

So things to keep in mind: Big pharma expenses versus profits Need for cheap drugs versus need for expensive drugs that fund future research Tiered pricing pros and cons

Country Presentations NEXT THURSDAY 10 MINUTES (and no more!) Citations! I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE PRESENTATIONS! Everyone must speak

Country Presentations What you should include Government (Government system, Head of State, Languages) Economy (GDP, Economic System, Development classification, import/exports, natural resources) People (Religions, growth rate, standard of living) Military UN Relations (Has the UN had to intervene in a country conflict?) Relations with WHO and what you think is the country’s position on the generic drugs debate

Research Aids WHO Website UN Website Allcountries.eu Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)