Here is my position paper when i was attending Indonesian Model United Nations 2011. At that simulation, i was standing as Zambian ambassador that brought Zambia's stand point at World Trade Organization meeting.
Country   : Zambia
Topic Area   : Patent Protection and Access to Medications
Committee   : World Trade Organization
Zambia is a country which is considered as a least-developed Country (LDC). One of the issues appears in the public welfare is the medication access which for some cases are difficult to be afforded. The diseases which spread out in the land of Zambia are the most dangerous, such as HIV/AIDS, and need a serious treatment to heal it, and it is so expensive. Much people suffer in this situation. There is no much alternative to heal their diseases because the medicine that they need is not affordable for their pocket.
Cause
The patent protection has been a crucial issue in the medication world. In the perspective of developed countries, it should be enforced in order to respect the innovation and invention that have been done by the inventors. The high price of patented medicines is aimed to pay the royalty to the inventors and stimulate them to create much more inventions in the future.
In the perspective of developing and least-developed countries like Zambia, it is unfair because the patented medicines are much more needed in the countries which the buying capabilities to the expensive products are very low. In these countries, those patented medicines are more useful. For example, there are so many researches have been conducted to invent the cure of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TBC). These diseases are much easier to be found in the land of Africa and any other developing and least-developed countries.
Another cause that creates this issue to be crucial is because there are some indications that the medicine producers, which hold the patent of the medicines, reap the profit by using the Patent issue excessively. These activities disadvantage the LDC and developing countries in order to create easier and better medication access to their citizens.
Policy
Minister of Health, Kapembwa Simbao, has directed the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (PRA) to put in place mechanisms for effective monitoring of the manufacture and distribution of medicines in Zambia. The new board consists of 16 members, but more are expected to be appointed as soon as their names are cleared.
Besides the Ministry of Health and PRA, the other organizations represented on the board are the Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia, Medical Council of Zambia, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, General Nursing Council and Traditional Health Practitioners Association of Zambia. Others are Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Veterinary Association of Zambia, Environmental Council of Zambia, Medical Association of Zambia, the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zambia and Consumer Association of Zambia. The rest are Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Department of Pharmacy, UNZA, Office of the Attorney General and one member appointed by the minister.
The Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority is established under the Pharmaceutical Act (No.14) of 2004 as a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and capable of suing and being sued in its corporate name. PRA is made up of the Board and the Secretariat. The Authority is responsible for regulating and monitoring the entire pharmaceutical industry in Zambia and the movement of pharmaceutical products throughout the distribution chain.
The main objective of the PRA is to ensure that all medicines and allied substances conform to the required standards for quality, safety and efficacy throughout the chain of manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, storage and supply and that the drug information is accurate and conform to the required standard and that only appropriately qualified persons carry out relevant pharmaceutical practices.
Solution
Generally, Developed countries should take this issue into account as the crucial issue. It can endanger the developed countries citizens indirectly. As the globalization emerges, people can travel around the world, across the boundaries, including Zambian people. HIV/AIDS, TBC, and any others dangerous diseases can be transferred easily as the consequence of globalization. If the developed countries still stick to their stand point, sooner or later, its citizens can be suffered as well. There are two solutions that can be offered by Zambia on this issue:
Subsidy from the developed countries
Developed countries which are also the countries which produce the patented medicines are suggested to give subsidies to the least-developed countries in order to create the inexpensive medicines and affordable to its citizens. Subsidies can be the reduction of price, and give price to the LDCs the price which constructed with the production cost only, no royalty fee, distribution fee, and no profit at all.
Compulsory license policy
Developed countries are suggested to give compulsory license to the third party to create generic medicines which is cheaper than the patented one. The third party also suggested to be bonded with the rules that prohibit them to reap much profit from this business opportunity. This agreement prohibits the third party to put the brand name in the medicine packages to avoid the dumping politic. Beside that, these medicines cannot be sold in the home country and developed countries in order to give the market share to the patented medicines, but also to secure the health of the developed countries citizens. In the other word, these generic medicines are only for export to the least-developed and developing countries.
