Yahoo – AFP,
Emily Ford, 3 March 2016
A growing
army of patients are seeking out low-cost, life-saving medicines in
India (AFP
Photo/Prakash Singh)
|
New Delhi
(AFP) - When doctors told Australian Greg Jefferys he had Hepatitis C and the
disease was destroying his liver, the devastating diagnosis was compounded by
the cost of a cure.
Unable to
afford Sovaldi, hailed as a miracle drug, the 61-year-old flew to India, one of
a growing army of patients seeking out low-cost, life-saving medicines on the
subcontinent.
Their
illnesses vary -- Hepatitis C, cancer and HIV are among the most common -- but
they are almost always desperate, seeing in India their only hope to save their
life or that of a loved one.
India has
earned a nickname as
"the pharmacy to the developing world"
for its
tough stance on patents (AFP
Photo/Prakash Singh)
|
"The
doctors told me 'you've got Hepatitis C, you've probably got liver
cancer'," recalled Jefferys, a PhD student.
"The
chatter was around the new generic versions of Sovaldi being released in India.
I hopped on a plane to Chennai and in about two days I had an appointment with
a specialist," he said.
India
earned a nickname as "the pharmacy to the developing world" for its
tough stance on patents.
Successive
governments have taken a view that patents should be granted only for major
innovations, not updates to existing compounds -- allowing domestic manufacturers
to make generic versions of drugs at vastly lower cost.
Sovaldi,
chemically known as sofosbuvir, is made by US pharmaceutical giant Gilead and
costs $84,000 for a 12-week cycle of treatment in the United States.
Rejected
for a patent in India, generic drug makers, some licensed by Gilead, produce
versions such as Mylan's MyHep, that cost less than $900 a cycle.
"This
is something I observe more and more," said Leena Menghaney, who runs
Medecins Sans Frontieres' Access Campaign in India, which works to broaden
access to drugs.
"All
kinds of people and patients across the world are starting to access medicines
from India. They travel themselves, or they contact a friend," she said.
More than
130 million people live with chronic Hepatitis C worldwide, according to the
World Health Organization, and 500,000 die each year from related liver
diseases.
Since
writing a blog, Jefferys receives 150 emails a day from people in the US,
Britain and elsewhere asking for help.
"India's
production of these generic Hep. C drugs is saving thousands of lives a
week."
'Delhi buyers club'
The advent
of generic Indian anti-retrovirals has made the country a global
centre for
cheap, lifesaving HIV drugs (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)
|
'Delhi buyers club'
When Loon
Gangte, a Delhi-based HIV activist was diagnosed with the virus in 1997, the
price of treatment was far beyond his reach.
But the
advent of generic Indian anti-retrovirals saved his life -- and made the
country a global centre for cheap, lifesaving HIV drugs.
Gangte is
open about carrying medicines overseas for others and says in a decade he has
been stopped just once, at Thai customs, and fined. Most countries allow
patients to import small amounts of medicines only for personal use.
Campaigning
by activists like Gangte for better access to HIV treatments helped give rise
to so-called buyers clubs, made famous by the 2013 Hollywood film.
"When
I saw Dallas Buyers Club, I laughed," said Meera (not her real name) who
helps one Delhi club by ferrying drugs illegally in her suitcase whenever she
travels.
"I
hate the term 'drug tourism'. This is about saving lives."
Dinesh (not
his real name), a long-time HIV campaigner, began working full-time for the
same buyers club in August, helping people obtain medicines for a nominal fee.
He is not
sure how people find him -- he has no online presence -- but gets requests from
as far afield as Austria and Indonesia.
"My
family were a bit reluctant, there is always a grey area in this, but I fear
only the one above. I feel completely that this is right."
Pharmaceutical
firms say India's disregard for patents will stifle innovation
or make drugs
commercially unfeasible (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)
|
Pharma
battle
Pharmaceutical
firms say India's disregard for patents will stifle innovation or make drugs
commercially unfeasible -- Gilead paid $11 billion to buy the developer of
Sovaldi in 2012.
But after
losing several high-profile patent battles, it appears drugmakers can do little
to combat the Indian government's will or that of overseas patients determined
to import drugs.
Gilead
spokesman Nick Francis told AFP the company was "aware such activity may
occur".
Perhaps the
riskiest route is online pharmacies -- a search on e-marketplace IndiaMart
turns up dozens claiming to sell generics -- with no guarantee against
counterfeits.
But legal
channels are springing up, including Delhi-based Ikris Pharma Network, set up
in August 2014, which does not sell drugs but connects patients to genuine
distributors.
Founder
Praveen Sikri receives 70 calls a day from people struggling to access drugs,
including generic Veenat, for cancer.
"Either
the drug is not available or it is very expensive," Sikri said.
"We
help the patient to get the product in a legalised manner."
One recent
email is from a young man in San Francisco whose grandad desperately needs
medicine for a stomach tumour.
In India,
one way or another, he will probably be able to find it.
"There
are many, many people doing this," Sikri said.
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