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Thursday, April 7, 2011
RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON SOME REPORTS OF STATE CONSULTATIONS -FAXED ON 1 APRIL 2011
Recommendations which were based on some reports of State Consultations which were received by email from Chairperson, committee for new law for persons with disabilities to replace the PWD ACT 1995, were faxed to the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 1 April 2011. The fax of Director Disability was not working then.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licens
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licens
Monday, April 4, 2011
THERE IS NOTHING 'SOCIAL' WHEN YOU ARE 'ANTI-SOCIAL'
Committee meetings on the new law for people with disabilities to replace the PWD ACT 1995 in India were held on 31st January, 1st February and 2nd February 2011 at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in New Delhi before the working draft of the new law was uploaded in the website of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in India. The State Consultations took place with this particular draft.
The minutes of this meeting were sent by post and through email only in March. When I read through the minutes I was shocked. Concerns which were expressed strongly and objections raised to certain sections in the draft law were missing. ‘Anti-family’ comments expressed by some committee members were not recorded nor the protests which followed. The minutes were written with much legalese and gung ho as if everyone was falling in each other’s arms with happiness and celebrating all the sections of the law which was not what happened.
The names of two male committee members who raised the anti- family statements were not mentioned.
One had stated that, ’families tie up their children.’ Another stated- ‘families are very abusive.’ A committee member, a lady holding an important position in the government, whose statements which are mostly devoid of scientific temper, supported by a large number of members in the committee also stated something about ‘the family’.
The statements were generalizing and stereotyping families. Coming from the lady committee member was really surprising because she always made it a point to state ‘this is a social model not a medical model’.
Was she unaware that stereotyping any individual, unit or group is not social?’
The minutes of such ‘anti-social’ happenings and other deep concerns about the draft stated by committee members should have been recorded. They were not.
All the chapters in the draft were not discussed. That should have also been recorded. It was not.
So letters were faxed to the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment with a copy to the Secretary of the Ministry informing him that the minutes were not being accurately recorded. This was done before attending the meetings on 23rd and 24th of March.
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Saturday, April 2, 2011
The road to National Consultation on Mental Health Care Bill 2010, March 22, 2011 New Delhi
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| National Consultation on Mental Health Care Bill 2010 March 22, 2011 |
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Monday, March 7, 2011
WHY THE EU-INDIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT PROTEST ON 2 MARCH 2011, NEW DELHI, INDIA ?
In 2005 India had to amend its patent law to become compliant with its obligation under the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Agreement. In the midst of civil society protests & international media attention, the Indian Parliament approved & passed amendments to Patents Act on March 23rd 2005. The Indian Patents Act of 1970 was amended to allow for the granting of pharmaceutical product patents – something the country has not done since 1970. This new law put some serious constraints on generic competition but also had some potentially important features such as strict patentability criteria, automatic licensing & the possibility for anyone to object to a patent before it is granted. FTA negotiations however threaten to remove even these safeguards.
When the Indian Parliament amended the patent law nearly six years ago, patient & public health groups (we campaigned too) were relieved at the inclusion of several key safeguards including a prohibition on the patenting of insignificant or minor improvements of known medicines - section 3(d). This means that pharmaceutical companies should not be able to obtain patents in India for medicines that are not actual inventions, such as combinations or slightly modified formulations of existing medicines. Such patent applications are designed to delay generic competition that could lead to lower prices. For the first time, a country emphasized stricter patentability criteria for pharmaceuticals & included provisions in its patent law stipulating that patents should only be granted on medicines that are truly new & innovative.
As a result the patent office has rejected several patent applications that do not cover a new medicine but are claims on minor modifications.
How the EU-India Free Trade Agreements affects access to medicines---
Over the past three years, negotiators from the European Union (EU) & India have met repeatedly in secret negotiations on a bilateral trade & investment agreement. EU is pushing India to sign this free trade agreement (FTA) with intellectual property (IP) & investment provisions that can delay & even prevent the production, registration, transportation & exportation of generic medicines. People who need these medicines will be left without a lifeline.
It is now upto the Indian government to accept or refuse the intellectual property & investment provisions as proposed by EU in the draft FTA text. One of the EU’s demands are Data Exclusivity
In practice, data exclusivity (DE) prevents the registration—& hence the actual sale & use of low cost generics, jeopardizing access to medicines & negatively affecting public health programmes.
Data exclusivity will introduce barriers in the registration of generic drugs under India’s drug regulatory law. Under this new style of intellectual property, India’s drug regulatory agency (the Drugs Controller General of India) will be prohibited from registering an equally effective generic medicine as long as the exclusivity over the clinical trial data submitted by a pharmaceutical company lasts - usually 5 to 10 years. Domestic producers will have to submit their own safety & efficacy data to register the generic medicines. This will oblige them to repeat clinical & preclinical trials—something that takes years. But more importantly, the repetition of clinical trials raises serious ethical concerns, since it would require withholding medicines that are already known to be safe & effective from some patients solely for registering the generic version.
Furthermore, DE would apply to all drugs, even when they do not deserve a patent according to India’s strict patent law, protecting originators from price-busting generic competition.
But if India accepts ‘Data Exclusivity’ (DE) multinational pharmaceutical companies can rely on the use of data exclusivity instead of patents to preclude generic competition. While Indian patent offices apply rigorous standards…to ensure that only innovative medicines are granted a monopoly, a pharmaceutical company merely has to submit clinical trial data to obtain a five-ten year market monopoly on a old drug including new dosage forms, new strengths, pediatric formulations & even fixed dose combinations.
Therefore DE will not permit the placing of affordable versions of new formulations of even “off patent” medicines on the market by the Indian Drug Controller.
It is crucial that the EU stop these demands of India and for India not to accept any such demands in these Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
The Indian government should not sign on to investment rules & investor- states disputes mechanisms under the India-EU FTA as it will allow foreign corporations to challenge India’s domestic policy space in several key sectors including health
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licens
When the Indian Parliament amended the patent law nearly six years ago, patient & public health groups (we campaigned too) were relieved at the inclusion of several key safeguards including a prohibition on the patenting of insignificant or minor improvements of known medicines - section 3(d). This means that pharmaceutical companies should not be able to obtain patents in India for medicines that are not actual inventions, such as combinations or slightly modified formulations of existing medicines. Such patent applications are designed to delay generic competition that could lead to lower prices. For the first time, a country emphasized stricter patentability criteria for pharmaceuticals & included provisions in its patent law stipulating that patents should only be granted on medicines that are truly new & innovative.
As a result the patent office has rejected several patent applications that do not cover a new medicine but are claims on minor modifications.
How the EU-India Free Trade Agreements affects access to medicines---
Over the past three years, negotiators from the European Union (EU) & India have met repeatedly in secret negotiations on a bilateral trade & investment agreement. EU is pushing India to sign this free trade agreement (FTA) with intellectual property (IP) & investment provisions that can delay & even prevent the production, registration, transportation & exportation of generic medicines. People who need these medicines will be left without a lifeline.
It is now upto the Indian government to accept or refuse the intellectual property & investment provisions as proposed by EU in the draft FTA text. One of the EU’s demands are Data Exclusivity
In practice, data exclusivity (DE) prevents the registration—& hence the actual sale & use of low cost generics, jeopardizing access to medicines & negatively affecting public health programmes.
Data exclusivity will introduce barriers in the registration of generic drugs under India’s drug regulatory law. Under this new style of intellectual property, India’s drug regulatory agency (the Drugs Controller General of India) will be prohibited from registering an equally effective generic medicine as long as the exclusivity over the clinical trial data submitted by a pharmaceutical company lasts - usually 5 to 10 years. Domestic producers will have to submit their own safety & efficacy data to register the generic medicines. This will oblige them to repeat clinical & preclinical trials—something that takes years. But more importantly, the repetition of clinical trials raises serious ethical concerns, since it would require withholding medicines that are already known to be safe & effective from some patients solely for registering the generic version.
Furthermore, DE would apply to all drugs, even when they do not deserve a patent according to India’s strict patent law, protecting originators from price-busting generic competition.
But if India accepts ‘Data Exclusivity’ (DE) multinational pharmaceutical companies can rely on the use of data exclusivity instead of patents to preclude generic competition. While Indian patent offices apply rigorous standards…to ensure that only innovative medicines are granted a monopoly, a pharmaceutical company merely has to submit clinical trial data to obtain a five-ten year market monopoly on a old drug including new dosage forms, new strengths, pediatric formulations & even fixed dose combinations.
Therefore DE will not permit the placing of affordable versions of new formulations of even “off patent” medicines on the market by the Indian Drug Controller.
It is crucial that the EU stop these demands of India and for India not to accept any such demands in these Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
The Indian government should not sign on to investment rules & investor- states disputes mechanisms under the India-EU FTA as it will allow foreign corporations to challenge India’s domestic policy space in several key sectors including health
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licens
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Protested EU-India Free Trade Agreement-2 March 2011, New Delhi
'OUR LIVES ARE NOT FOR SALE - Take Intellectual Property Rights Out Of Free Trade Agreements' - Protested the EU-India Free Trade Agreement - 2 March 2011, New Delhi. Protest March from Ram Lila grounds to Jantar Mantar and the Rally thereafter -
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Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Happiness is so transient. Happiness is so many moments...
For me-
Happiness is so transient.
Happiness is so many moments...
It is watching my daughter smile,
It is listening to my son chuckle,
With the rustle of the pages of a book.
It is cooking Chettinad Chicken...
Waiting for it to be eaten,
Without spills only slurps.
Happiness is so transient.
Happiness is so many moments...
It is watching my daughter smile,
It is listening to my son chuckle,
With the rustle of the pages of a book.
It is cooking Chettinad Chicken...
Waiting for it to be eaten,
Without spills only slurps.
Happiness is remembering Amma,
While she came out of her coma.
Smiling at her son and her daughter,
Each one holding her hand.
It is watching Achan caring for her,
With no inhibition...
Only loving devotion.
While she came out of her coma.
Smiling at her son and her daughter,
Each one holding her hand.
It is watching Achan caring for her,
With no inhibition...
Only loving devotion.
Being alone, in silence.
Watching the Laburnum,
With its brilliant golden blossoms.
When the hot winds blow in summer,
Remembering the holy Ganges,
Floating in its cool waters,
Feeling the swirling currents.
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