Health and medicine

Trade deal risks cheap drugs

BANGKOK, Thailand - A proposed trade agreement between Thailand and the United States could derail this country's production of inexpensive AIDS drugs and imperil the future of an anti-HIV program that is widely considered a model for countries throughout Asia, the group Doctors Without Borders said Monday.

"If the Thais sign such an agreement, they will have to close down their generic drug production," Paul Cawthorne of the Belgium-based group said at a news conference. "Trade rules are the biggest threat (to the fight against AIDS)."

Thailand is one of the few countries - others include India and Brazil - that manufacture generic versions of anti-HIV drugs developed by U.S. manufacturers.

The country began researching manufacturing techniques for the drugs in the early 1990s and was preparing to market a generic version of the drug didanosine when Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the drug's manufacturer, served notice that it held a valid patent on the drug. The Thai government was ready to accede, but Doctors Without Borders urged it to fight the claim.

The next year, Thailand's Central Intellectual Property Court ruled the patent invalid in Thailand, paving the way for the country to begin large-scale drug production.

That decision was reinforced, in effect, in September when the World Trade Organization agreed that poor nations could ignore patents in times of national health crises.

A free-trade agreement would incorporate language reinstating the patents, in an effort to protect U.S. drug companies. The Bush administration has argued that the generic versions of the drug are potentially unsafe and that they are not as effective as the branded versions, a claim most experts dispute.

In March 2002, the Thai Government Pharmaceutical Organization began producing a single pill that contains the three drugs recommended for first-line treatment of HIV infection: stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine. The pill reduced the monthly cost of treatment for an individual from an estimated $750 to $30. The government now plans to provide it free to 50,000 Thai citizens.

Adults with asthma are 12 times more likely than others to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease later in life, according to a 20-year study published Monday.

While both asthma and pulmonary disease are characterized by limited airflow and difficulty breathing, asthma attacks are usually short-lived and can be relieved with medication. They cause no permanent lung damage.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease refers to a group of chronic lung diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which involve irreversible airflow limitations and permanent lung damage.

The study, published in the journal Chest, followed nearly 3,100 people in the Tucson, Ariz., area enrolled in a study of airway obstructive diseases in the early 1970s. After an initial examination of lung function and a survey of behavior, the group was periodically rechecked for the next 20 years.

The researchers found that patients with active asthma were 12.5 times more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than patients without asthma.

People with asthma should avoid risk factors such as tobacco smoke that could increase the likelihood of the condition progressing into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Dr. Robert Barbee, a chest specialist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a co-author of the report.

"Although there's no cure for COPD, early detection is critical in slowing the progression of the disease," said Dr. Richard Irwin, president of the American College of Chest Physicians, which publishes the journal.

World and national headlines

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright