10 Amendments of Judith SARGENTINI related to 2016/2057(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that Sustainable Development Goal 3, with nine quantitative and four qualitative targets, clearly states that by 2030 everyone should have access to good mental and physical health throughout their lives; underlines that, each year, 100 million people fall into poverty because of health costs which are disproportionate to their incomes, and that, according to the WHO, over one third of the world’'s population, with over 50 % in Africa, does not have access to medicines, while an increasing number of sick people in developing countries, especially in Central and South America, are claiming their health rights through the courts;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes with concern that according to the WHO, most low- and middle- income countries lack a robust institutional framework to mitigate high prices of patented pharmaceutical products; stresses that human right to health, which includes access to medicine and health technologies, supersedes IPRs; recalls that in line with SDG 3, governments have a duty to develop universal health coverage and to ensure that all people have equitable and affordable access to medicine and health technologies; in particular, deems that all governments have a duty to: i) invest public resources in basic science and in medical R&D; ii) develop norms and systems that prioritize R&D towards patient-driven health needs; iii) promote transparency and coordination of efforts in R&D; iv) ensure affordability and access to medicines; v) and create the necessary legal instruments to monitor and hold accountable pharmaceutical companies in relation to their human rights responsibilities and access to medicines;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. UEmphasises that the IPR regime for pharmaceutical products shall be consistent with international human rights law and public health requirements; accordingly, urges not to use free trade agreements with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to introduce TRIPS- plus intellectual property (IP) rules that extend monopoly protection, and not to introduce new IP enforcement rules or investment protection to the detriment of access to medicines; takes the view that LDCs should not be required to implement TRIPS provisions;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes with concern that patents hinder innovation regarding medicines for diseases where there is no profitable market; stresses that medical research should focus on the medical needs of all people, including neglected diseases in developing countries;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Supports competition in generic medicines, which allows broad access to medicines in LMICs; calls, in particular, for the EU to support actively governments that use the available legal measures, including TRIPS safeguards and flexibilities (such as compulsory licencing provisions and parallel imports), to protect and promote public health; calls also for the EU to immediately stop targeting countries such as India that have implemented progressive TRIPS- compliant IP policies which promote access to medicines, through its watch-list of ‘'priority countries’';
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that governments and parliaments of developing countries must retain the right to regulate private investment, including to determine the grounds for granting compulsory licences (as reaffirmed in the 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS) and to set conditions on technology transfer that support the country's development; deems essential not to include provisions in investment agreements that allow investor-state-dispute-settlement i.e. with respect to IP or other investment claims based on health products;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recalls that a fair balance must be stroke between innovation and patients' access to affordable medicines; calls on the EU to engage in meaningful technology transfer with LDCs with the aim to reach the SDG 3 objective on health; likewise, calls on the EU to further contribute to the achievement of universal health coverage in developing countries through technical assistance and development aid; more broadly, calls on the EU to encourage policies that "de- link" the financing of R&D from the price of medicines, e.g. through the use of patent pools, open source research, grants, subsidies, etc.;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that, without transparency of research and development costs to originator companies and information on the actual prices paid for medicines across the EU, any discussion on fair medicine prices remains impossible; stresses equally that the results of clinical trials should be accessible to researchers and the public; recalls the Commission’'s commitment to greater transparency of EU positions, specific legal proposals, and negotiating texts in the TTIP negotiations;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Deems that TTIP represents a potential threat to developing countries' interest, in a context where TTIP consists of a pioneering effort to strengthen and expand multilateral rules (WTO-Plus) or to generate global standards and norms that will apply to other trade agreements around the world; in particular, notes with concern that TTIP could among others offer new opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry to demand further IP protections and lengthen the period of market exclusivity for its products; emphasises that such move is particularly worrisome for developing countries since it would entail longer monopolies, less generic competition and limits on pricing policies, and therefore damage the public health system of developing countries;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. URecalls that tiered pricing doesn't necessarily lead to "affordability". In reverse, experience shows that robust generic competition and technology transfers results in lower prices; urges to take advantage of the ongoing review process of the EU Tiered Pricing Regulation to repeal it unless it can be amended, in close collaboration with the Commission’'s Directorates-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) and for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTÉ), in order to support all measures that countries have at their disposal to ensure affordable access to medicines.;