Costly drugs, a major bane of drug use

Accra, Nov. 14, GNA - Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health, on Friday said the high cost of drug combinations was a major barrier to their effective use.

Speaking at a Stakeholders' Meeting on Access to Medicines in Accra, the Minister said in many cases, lack of resources had forced countries to continue the use of drugs whose effectiveness were known to be limited due to resistance.

He said options for alternatives are limited especially in the regions facing highest resource constraints.

Dr Afriyie said it was regrettable that some drugs for diseases of common occurrence in the developing world might soon become irrelevant because of widespread resistance development.

The day's Stakeholders' Meeting was aimed at identifying factors impeding easy and equal access to medicines in developing economies. He said one of the most difficult truths about "the situation is that the disease burden is increasing with emerging diseases such as HIV/AIDS".

Dr Afriyie welcomed the global standardization of patents under the WTO agreement on Trade Related Aspects Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) but said it was driving the prices of newer molecules high.

He said governments and the international community have an obligation to see the right to health progressively realized.

It included the responsibility for prevention, treatment and control of diseases; and the creation of conditions to ensure access to health facilities goods and services. Dr Afriyie said Ghana was a member of the WTO and had signed the Final

Act embodying the results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations including TRIPS in 1994.

"As a developing country and member of WTO, Ghana was required to adopt its national legislation on intellectual property including patents to conform to the Agreement."

He said the Agreement obliged members to provide 20 years protection counted from the filing date of the patent for all invention including both processes and products.

"In this direction, a new Patent Bill is being considered to replace the patent law, 1992 (PNDCL 305A) to bring it in conformity with the international obligations of Ghana under the TRIPS Agreement," he said. Dr Afriyie called for international and partner cooperation to prime a

dormant market and increase the availability of medicines.

The meeting is to complement ongoing country level action to improve sustainable access to affordable medicines and strengthen health systems. It is taking place under the wider context of increased action on access to anti-retroviral drugs and other medicines with new financing sourcing for AIDS, TB and malaria.