Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-05-Speech-2-324"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060905.26.2-324"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, I too should like to thank my colleague, Mr Cornillet, for having opened this crucial debate. We are all of one mind in saying that pirate medicines – and I am in complete agreement with what Mr Cornillet has stated – are a scourge that kills, above all, of course, in the least developed countries.
Unfortunately, this potentially lethal counterfeiting is not widely known about and, in the majority of cases, goes almost unremarked. We are a long way here from the spectacular legal actions – recipients of much media attention – that have been brought by the manufacturers of luxury products and that, in a number of cases, have also been transferred to higher courts – actions that, it has also to be noted, have not met with much success.
When it comes to antibiotics, the Pill, steroids, powdered milk for babies, anti-malaria drugs – which have already been talked about – vaccines – a counterfeit Tamiflu, for example – and Viagra too, the counterfeit medicines industry is quite amoral in the way it copies everything, since this is done without the consumer’s knowledge. Mr Cornillet quoted a whole range of revealing figures. I noted the EUR 25 billion per year represented by this traffic. Worldwide, one antibiotic in three and one medicine in ten are counterfeit.
Over and above the damage to the economy obviously represented by these figures, the big issue here is the disastrous impact of this counterfeiting in terms of health. At best, these counterfeit medicines are ineffective. At worst – as I said – they kill, especially when it is a question of medicines used in the case of mortal diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis or AIDS. In China alone, the hub and empire of counterfeiting of every kind, 200 000 people were dying each year after having been treated with pirated medicines, including in a number of hospitals administered by the Chinese Red Cross.
So much for the observations that can be made. As for the causes, these are known, at least in part. Mr Cornillet referred to them at length: the absence, still scarcely remedied, of any real will on the part of national governments to combat this scourge; the absence, too, in many countries of legislation that might genuinely act as a deterrent; the ridiculously low cost of these counterfeit medicines; and, above all, the poverty to be found in the countries concerned and the fact that the most vulnerable population groups, which are crying out for accessible medicines, find it impossible to gain access to health systems.
In a debate such as this, no one claims to have the solution, or at least a ready-made one, but a responsible policy needs to be proposed, given the urgency of the situation. In April, while denouncing all forms of counterfeiting before this Assembly, Commissioner Frattini took a tougher stance in terms of sanctions against Europeans and developing countries.
The European Union must take the lead and, in close cooperation with the WHO, put a global strategy in place to combat this scourge effectively. Certainly, judicial and police coordination needs to be set up and sanctions put in place, but people also need to be informed and, above all, warned. Today, the difficulty consists in making essential high quality medicines available to the whole populations in the countries concerned."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples