Bolivia sets up indigenous medicines company

The Bolivian government is to establish a pharmaceutical company based on traditional indigenous medicine, Health Minister Ramiro Tapia announced, saying that $10 million will be invested in the project, reports The New Herald newspaper.

The country has already seen the opening of two 'intercultural pharmacies,' which both sell common drugs and natural medicines produced from plants and using indigenous knowledge, comments a blogger on the IP Tango site.

This decision comes after years of public statements by indigenous groups in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru rejecting intellectual property rights of drug companies because they become richer at the expense of the indigenous resources. 'They rightly proclaim the defence of their medicinal plants and their ancestral knowledge,' the blogger opines.