Malaysia Against Delays In Introducing New Generic Drugs

Bernama: KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia does not want the introduction of new generic drugs to be obstructed and delayed by conflicting interpretations of national legislation and regulations on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) by various parties.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said with the increasing number of patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many countries were faced with a huge challenge in providing sufficient access to essential medicines to treat such cases. The positive economic impact of generic substitutions can be enormous. For Malaysia which provides free medical care to its citizens, generics are essential to meet the continuous delivery of healthcare to its population," he said in his speech at the United Nations High-Level Meeting On NCDs in New York Monday.
The text of his speech was made available to the media here.
Liow noted that the United Nations Declaration on HIV/AIDS in June had endorsed important flexibilities guaranteed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) TRIPS Agreement to ensure that trade would not violate patients' rights.
"While the promotion of international trade is important, especially within a rules-based trading system, the WTO should provide flexibilities, particularly to developing countries," he said.