Canada Institutes Humanitarian Endeavor to Make Information and Medicine More Easily Available to Impoverished Countries
2 Aug 2006
In an effort to make medicines more readily available and affordable in impoverished countries, the government of Canada recently launched a Web site providing information on Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime. The Regime, which has been in operation since May 2005, allows eligible countries to make arrangements with Canadian pharmaceutical companies to export low-cost generic versions of medicines that are patent-protected in Canada. Nongovernmental organizations also can help to supply the medicines to eligible countries.
The Canadian government can grant the generic drug manufacturer a compulsory license (overruling the patent protections of the patent-holder) to make the drug, but the generic version must pass Health Canada’s regulatory requirements before it can be exported, to ensure that the generic version meets the same standards of safety and effectiveness as those enforced for the Canadian market. The Regime has made Canada one of the first countries to put into action a World Trade Organization decision to authorize the manufacture of less expensive versions of drugs for export to countries that cannot produce them, to combat diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and others.
Source: Government of Canada Launches New Web site on Access to Medicines for Developing Nations
July 28, 2006
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