Potential Human Rights impacts of Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement or TPP is a US-led  multi-lateral trade agreement being negotiated since 2006 originally by  Brunei, Chile, Singapore, and New Zealand (a.ka. P4);  joined in 2008 by Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the United States, and Vietnam for a current total of  12 countries who reportedly represent the 40% of the world´s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); like the Transatlantic Trade andInvestment Partnership (TTIP) or the Trade in Services Agreeement (TISA), the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership or RCEP (another Pacific-area agreement which does include China) TPP is being negotiated in a secretive way: no public records of discussions,  no text of the agreement has been made public and only leaked chapters (2 out of 11) have been made available. An exception seems to have been made for lobbysts for differentindustries with stakes in the agreement such as pharmaceutical companies or financial services which through privileged access to public officials (and office holders) with responsiblity over the negotiations have been able to make sure that their clients points of view and red lines are well taken into account.

Map of negotiating TPP members from State Department willing to overlook Malaysia's mass graves for the sake of TPP  Cory Doctorow Boing Boing July 16th 2015

This opacity is more concerning taking into account that the issues (and policy implications) on the negotiating encompass a wide range of issues with dramatic effects and potential impact on the lives of millions; furthermore, future interpretations of clauses (also present in other MTAs being currently negotiated) such as the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISD), the Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET,linked to International Investment Agreements) may seriously hinder (and compromise) the possibilities of successive governments to draft laws and policies deemed non-compatible with the agreement, thus seriously compromising the people´s will regarding, such issues like public services, drug prices, or environmental regulations.These MTA, if completed, would insert themselves as a higher lever of the multiple Free Trade Agreements (FTA), that the US and over 15  countries have signed in the last 10 years. All of them stipulating norms and rules that go beyond what has been agreed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) embodied most notably in what is known as TRIPS+ clauses. This would  become  the new normal, specially when the WTO seems to be gridlocked in issues such as agriculture or pharmaceutical patents issues. Again, the lives of millions of people both in rich impoverished parts of the world  are going to be affected by agreements being negotiated behind closed doors with unelected people taking  unaccountable decisions on behalf of the next generations. 

We have added, in the Reports-Informes-Recursos section, a a Third World Network Report authored by Sanya Reid Smith and  distributed, among others, by Infojustice which focus on the potential human rights impact of TPP on a variety of areas and domains.

Entre el Estado y el mercado, el paciente siempre pierde.

Publicamos a continuación una versión editada y con hyperlinks de un artículo publicado en enero en la revista de la Associació Catalana de Malalts d´Hepatitis (ASSCAT) sobre las dificultades del sistema público de salud para dar respuesta a las demandas de nuevos tratamientos contra la Hepatitis C. Si bien la situación ha variado considerablemente desde la fecha de publicación con la aprobación de un Plan Nacional de Lucha contra la Hepatitis y la autorización paulatina de tratamiento para aquellos casos más graves, la problemática sigue vigente. Y lo seguir estando mientras las imperfecciones manifiestas en el actual Sistema de I+D se manifiesten de forma lacerante en las condiciones de acceso a tecnologias sanitarias tanto en contextos afluyentes como en paises empobrecidos

La comercialización de nuevos medicamentos contra la Hepatitis C ha puesto, de nuevo, de relieve las disfunciones del actual modelo de I+D

 Como puede el sistema público de salud afrontar el elevado precio de los nuevos tratamientos contra la hepatitis C. Jaume Vidal

En los últimos tiempos vivimos una nueva expresión de una problemática que amenaza en convertirse en factor  estructural en la promoción de la Salud Publica. Se trata del acceso a nuevas tecnologías sanitarias. Problemática ligada a las deficiencias del actual modelo de Investigación y Desarrollo (I+D) y expresada de forma cercana en los dificultades de los sistemas públicos de salud para afrontar el ingente gasto farmacéutico

NHS and the hydra of cancer drugs prices

We share the January 13th 2015 editorial from The Independent regarding the high cost of some cancer drugs and criticizing,rightfully,the steps taken by the UK government not to heed to NICE advice analysis before adding new drugs to the publicly funded list. A rise in pharmaceutical costs which has more to do with pharma companies pricing and business strategies than actual therapeutic impact and is affecting most European countries. En la web de la No Gracias podeis encontrar tanto el editorial como otros materiales relacionados debidamente traducidos y analizados. As usual we have added some hyperlinks and provided further information on the issue from the blog, our twitter feed and elsewhere 

Picture from Insurers seek lower drug prices, forcing Big Pharma to swallow a jagged little pill The Guardian Jan. 15th 2015

Unhappy pills
Manufacturers of cancer drugs cannot expect to keep charging more for them without paying a price themselves
With a limited budget, the NHS cannot meet every demand – and new demands keep arising. As accident and emergency departments face unprecedented pressures, despite the relatively mild winter and an emergency cash injection from the Government, they suck resources from other parts of the service which, sooner or later, feel the squeeze. This week it is the turn of the cancer services.