Medecins Sans Frontieres wants the Trans-Pacific Partnership to amend terms

Worldwide humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is urging the countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in Malaysia this week to consider the need for affordable medicines.

MSF wants negotiating countries to remove terms that could block people from accessing affordable medicines, slow production of generic medicines and constrain the ability of governments to pass laws in the interest of public health.

Fifa Rahman, of the Malaysian AIDS Council, said: “Just prior to hosting an international AIDS conference two weeks ago, the Malaysian government made an important pledge to reject harmful provisions in the TPP trade deal that will increase medicine prices for Malaysians, who already pay some of the highest prices for HIV drugs among developing countries. We need all negotiating countries to not only make the same strong public pledge to protect public health, but also to ensure that the technical details of the deal truly fulfill their principled commitments to global public health.”