Canadian Conservatives defeat bill to get lifesaving generic drugs to developing world
Source: The Globe and Mail
The Conservative government has defeated an effort to reform Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime despite support from international medical groups and the drug industry. The bill would have made cheap generic versions of lifesaving drugs available to the world’s poor but the government says it would violate Canada’s trade obligations.
Bill C-398 would have reformed Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime and is, in all practical ways, identical to a bill that was passed by the House of Commons in the final days of the previous government only to die in the Senate when an election was called.
The bill was sponsored by Hélène Laverdière of the NDP and had the support of the Liberals, the Bloc, and Elizabeth May of the Greens as well as international health and aid organizations. Even the research-based pharmaceutical companies, which are often at odds with the generic drug makers, said they want it to move forward.
UNICEF Canada said it will help the more than two million poor and vulnerable children around the world who need access to lifesaving medicines like anti-retrovirals for HIV/AIDS.
Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservatives-defeat-bill-to-get-lifesaving-generic-drugs-to-developing-world/article5759286/
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