India/USA trade dispute could impact AIDS treatment programs

The trade dispute over intellectual property rights between the USA and India is set to derail the distribution of generic drugs, leaving millions of people without access to life saving medications, and could easily cripple global AIDS treatment programs like the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), writes The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

That Indian drug companies supply much of the developing world with affordable medicines for diseases such as cancer and HIV, by producing generic versions of patented drugs at a fraction of the cost, is a known fact. Consumer groups allege that Obama's sabre rattling, in the guise of trade enforcements against India, could well destabilize the supply of affordable generics.

Advocates from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest US non profit health care provider for HIV/AIDS in the USA, have noted that India has remained steadfast in the face of US threats to impose trade sanctions. How far it can continue to do so - remain true to the world's 12 million people on generic antiretroviral medicines - is a moot point.