Battleangel

As I follow the widening conflict over Intellectual Property it is becoming increasingly clear who you can trust these days. A rift has been in the making for a long time now and finally the players start to emerge for a global battle of commerce and justice. For a while it looked like it was going to be the rich vs the poor, the industrialized vs the underdeveloped, the first vs the third world, all over again. But as the world polarizes, new alliances are formed and often for reasons that are not immediately obvious. As it stands, we seem to have about half of the European nations including Poland and the Netherlands on our side even if the shift of power is so recent that it has yet to manifest itself in foreign and domestic policies.

More certainly we have Canada, India, Brazil, Israel and possibly China. Where Sweden stands in all of this is anyone’s guess, flip-flopping and zig-zagging I guess. The only thing I know for sure is what stands in our way and it is what always stands in the way of progress and global security and prosperity these days - the United States of America. For example, take the Global Fund issue which the US has been effectively thwarting for years.

And more than that there is the issue of domestic imports of generic drugs to the US. Something that the regime only recently became concerned with and something that they’ve done just about everything to discredit stopping short of legal action. One has to admit that they are, if anything, conscientious in their efforts to make matters worse not only for the rest of the world but also for its own population.
I wish I didn’t have to be so anti-american and repetitive. But the fact remains that the US is the only “super power” and imperialist nation with “super nationalism” worth mentioning. And the pharmaceutical companies that are behind the blatant efforts to let millions die for the sake of higher profits are also mostly american. Being in that unique position one has not only to expect but also accept a great deal of scrutiny and criticism. So here we go again …
I see 2005 as the year when lines are drawn in the sand and we will see which way the wind really blows and what all of this talk really amounts to. The most recent development in these last few weeks is the decision by Brazil to break the Aids drug patents. The US response so far has been cautious but certainly sinister.
Only a couple of days ago it became clear that India would do something very similar. With Brazil and India being the two major producers and exporters of generic HIV/AIDS drugs this is not good news for pharmaceutical companies nor xenophobic, protectionistic attitudes. It will no doubt be met with all deliberate force and the question is if either country can stand its ground. One has to assume that the US will be alone in this one though. The UN GA or SC will probably never work against generic drugs as it is dedicated to alleviating the burden of HIV/AIDS on poorer nations and has in that promise committed to using generic drugs when necessary and has been doing so for years. A very interesting conflict indeed and one that could isolate the US even further.

Israel is on the other hand new to generic production. And the difference is perhaps that Israeli companies will be able to produce drugs, not by some loophole in the law, but openly and with the consent of their government. It puzzles me why they would knowingly go against the EU (even though I foresee EU policy to change over the next year) and especially the US which is considered (at least by some) to be the closest thing to an ally that Israel has got. But that is nevertheless what they did with their new IP law that is about to come into play. Like Canada, Israel is hoping to grab a share of domestic US drugs. It is with interest that I note that there is a very serious rift opening here between the US and Israel. A rift that could mean one of many things. The US can either condone Israel (or at least remain silent), in that case they might also drop any further complaints against other countries doing the same thing. Or they can protest and downgrade Israel to the mighty priority watch list for intellectual property (which they have been more than hesitant to do so far, and they’ve known about it for more than four months), in which case Israel would surely be an invaluable ally for the opponents of IP and we would probably see further polarization over the issue. A third and less palatable outcome would be that the US fails to act against Israel but takes far-reaching measures against India, Brazil and others anyway.
At any rate, it’s a step in the right direction. And it’s refreshing to see a high-tech nation like Israel take a first step towards ending the stranglehold of IP.

Then there are those that don’t have a choice. As the African HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on with no end in sight, more and more of the African nations are looking to start national ARV (AntiRetroViral) drug production. South Africa is already doing it and claims it can shortly cover the demands of the entire continent, with Nigeria setting up a similar capacity during the next year. The recent uncertainty over the future of generic drugs and the withdrawal of several brands have caused even more problems. Something that the pharmaceutical companies are quick to blame on the generic drugs. It figures.

Surely too much fresh air and caffeine for one day. Watch for the subject in Michael Moore’s upcoming movie, “Sicko”.