India urges international community to promote generic drugs
June 9th, 2011 - 4:42 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, June 9 (IANS) India has called upon the international community to promote generic medicine, specially for diseases like HIV and AIDS, to make treatment affordable.
Speaking at the high level meeting of the General Assembly on HIV and AIDS in New York Wednesday, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the international community for lifting the “barriers” of Intellectual Property Rights and patents from medicines.
Generic drugs are medicines which are sold without brand name, making them cheaper.
“The international community has to dismantle barriers that obstruct universal access to treatment. A key barrier in universal access to treatment is the high cost of Anti Retro Viral medicines,” Azad said.
“Pharmaceutical companies in my country have been providing high quality and affordable drugs for use not only in India but also supplying to around 200 countries. I would also like to take this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that these generic drugs are not cheap in terms of quality,” he added.
- India to continue generic drugs for HIV patients - Jul 06, 2011
- Activists slam EU-India Free Trade Agreement - Feb 10, 2012
- Don't block affordable Indian medicines, EU urged - Dec 10, 2010
- Ranbaxy approved to make first generic version of Lipitor - Dec 01, 2011
- Ranbaxy's South African arm bags $133 million order - Dec 20, 2010
- Victory for access to medicines as Valaganciclovir patent is overturned - May 07, 2010
- India-EU trade deal threatens access to life saving drugs - Mar 23, 2011
- HIV vaccine design program launched in India - Mar 03, 2011
- Not portraying drug users as dead can improve HIV treatment access - Jul 22, 2010
- EU-India trade deal could cost lives, aid groups warn - Apr 26, 2010
- Doctors Without Borders hail India's rejection of drug patent - May 10, 2010
- Developed countries stop using arm-twisting measures in FTAs: UN Special Rapporteur - Jul 20, 2010
- India to accord high priority to prevention of non communicable diseases - Mar 16, 2011
- Integrate Hepatitis C testing with HIV: NGOs - Oct 21, 2011
- Aid appeal to combat HIV/AIDS in Myanmar - Dec 06, 2011
Tags: aids, brand name, diseases, general assembly, generic drugs, generic medicine, ghulam nabi azad, health minister, high quality, hiv, hiv and aids, India, intellectual property rights, medicine, medicines, New Delhi, patents, pharmaceutical companies, universal access