PTI

Panaji, Feb 25: India's NGOs and hospitals working in the field of cancer prevention and treatment have sought prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh's intervention against patenting of life saving drug Glivec by a swiss pharma company.

"Novartis pharmaceuticals sells Glivec, a life saving medicine for patients suffering from 'Chronic Myeloid Leukemia' ( a type of blood cancer) at prohibitive prices of Rs 1.20 lakh per month to be taken almost life long. At the same time Indian companies give the same medicine for Approximately 11 to 12 thousand a month which is affordable for some patients and they can live a fruitful life," national organisation for tobacco eradication (NOTE) India, general secretary, Dr Shekhar Salkar told PTI.

Novartis is fighting a case in Chennai high court wherein it is not only arguing to re-open the Glivec patent examination but also is seeking a declaration from the the Madras high court in Chennai that section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act is not in compliance with TRIPS and that it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Section 3 (d) is the provision that protects against extension of patent monopolies on essential medicines, Dr Salkar said.

Along with NOTE around 34 cancer NGOs and institutes including Indian Cancer Society, Kolkata,Cancer Foundation of India, Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital and others have signed the letter dashed to the Prime minister.

" The price of Glivec, is well beyond the capacity of most patients. Novartis is aware that only a very small percentage of patients in India can afford this drug. Access to health care and medicine depends on solutions at various levels. It is our duty to try and remove barriers to the best of our ability," Dr Salkar, a practicing oncologist, stated.

"If the drug is patented than the patients with chronic myeloid leukemia will have to die without medicine as it would be unaffordable for majority of the people," he argued adding,"a patient who are buying this medicine at a cost of rs 11,000 a month will either have to die without medicine or shell out Rs 1.2 lakh per month which is absolutely unaffordable."

"We express our grave concern over the Novartis' legal action in the Chennai High Court to challenge the "Glivec patent rejection and critical public health safeguards of Indian patent law", the NOTE general secretary said.

"The public health safeguards of India's patent law have a very real and human impact in our lives and those of millions of patients - not just people living with HIV, but those living with cancer, asthma, heart disease, mental illness," he stated.

Dr Salkar has said on the issue of constitutionality of the Indian patent law, the government s constitutional expert, the Solicitor General of India was not present in court on 15 and 16 February at the time of arguments. "In the absence of the government's legal expert on constitutional matters, Indian parliament's patent law and patient groups access to affordable medicines is at stake," he said..

"Note India strongly support Indian Cancer Society and other NGO's in convincing Indian Government to fight in the court with constitutional experts so that the patients suffering from 'Chronic Myeloid Leukemia' receives medicine at cheaper rates. This judgment is likely to have consequences in the long term on many other medicines which are essential for the treatment of many types of Cancer," he added.