Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-10-Speech-1-084"
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"en.20030210.8.1-084"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, this debate calls to mind concepts of peace and solidarity upon which the European Union was founded. The principle of solidarity applies not just within the Union but also to the people of less developed countries.
The European Union upheld this concept when, in the face of United States obstruction, it took the initiative and authorised the importation and use of generic and low-cost medicines for underprivileged communities. As a rapporteur to Parliament on directives relating to medicines, I have worked on directives concerning the authorisation of the marketing of medicines within the European Union. I am therefore well aware of the issues involved. I understand that it is important to strike a satisfactory balance between research and generic medicines, between data protection and the price of the medicine and between innovation and authorised copying.
I do not however wish to revisit these issues today, nor do I wish to delve into the issue raised by a number of countries, namely whether the right to health should take precedence over the right to patent. In certain circumstances, this issue can be resolved quite easily. Do we have the right to let people waste away? Do we have the right to allow people to die when they could be treated? This would amount to failing to help a person in danger. In accordance with the principle of equal access to medicines and therefore to health, I would urge the European Union to use all its influence to support these authorisations. At the same time, the Union should however ensure that a specific framework is created and that the process is completely transparent. I believe it would be helpful for the World Health Organisation to act as arbiter in this, and would like to adduce three reasons for this.
Firstly, effective measures should be implemented to prevent the parallel importation into the European Union of generic medicines destined for developing countries. If such controls are not introduced, the people we wish to help will not receive the medicines destined for them. Furthermore, such parallel imports would undermine the quality health system we wish to develop within the European Union. The relevant authority should draw up a permanent register of generic medicines destined for developing countries to ensure the effectiveness of such controls. I hope this list will evolve over time as new diseases appear, in order to increase the efficiency of product distribution and quality control frameworks. As for the quality of these medicines, we know that they are not third-rate products. On the contrary, we know that they are just as effective as other medicines. Making such products available, however, could only be one aspect of curing disease and fighting the epidemics we are trying to curb.
Lastly, Commissioner, the provision of local infrastructures, control laboratories and training for professionals is in fact just as important as making these products available. For all these reasons, I think the WHO should take on the essential role of guarantor for the process of making medicines available to all."@en1
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