NCD battle starts now

Historic it may be—even if watered down. The unanimous adoption of a “political declaration” by the UN on the need to fight the rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCD) is a singular development and, as analysts have been reminding us, it is only the second time a health issue has been debated at a special meeting of the General Assembly. The first was when it pledged to take on AIDS a decade ago.

The fine line for judges

Last week just as Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis was set to begin its final arguments in the Supreme Court against the rejection of a patent for its cancer drug Glivec (see ‘Evergreen Novartis’, Down To Earth, September 1-15) there were two swift and stunning developments. A letter was written by five activists complaining to the ministers of law, commerce, health and family welfare about Justice Dalveer Bhandari, one of two judges hearing the case.

'Poor nations need Codex education'

On his focus areas as chairperson of Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) I would like to focus on building capacity in developing and least developed countries. Most of them do not understand the Codex document, what it contains and what is there between the lines. So, they do not know how they are going to be affected by a decision of the Commission. These countries need to be supported and trained. A lot of hand-holding will have to be done if CAC is to be of use to these countries. The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organisation are already engaged in a lot of capacity building and this effort needs to be further enhanced. Interviewee:  Sanjay Dave

Unholy smoke!

Most readers might find it difficult to credit what follows. This is a story of how bilateral and multilateral investment treaties are being used to satisfy corporate greed, how large corporations, even those in the unsavoury business of selling cigarettes, can sue countries for passing public health laws intended to protect their citizenry from health hazards and killer diseases.

Another leak

Indian intransigence at WTO negotiations irked New Zealand to the extent that it became a trenchant critic of the Indo-US nuclear deal, suggests a WikiLeaks cable.

The natco-pfizer test

This is set to become a landmark case for the Indian pharmaceutical industry—and for patients. When Natco Pharma of Hyderabad wrote to Pfizer, the world’s largest drugs manufacturer, that it wanted a voluntary licence (VL) to make a low-cost version of its antiretroviral drug maraviroc, it was setting the stage for clarity on how well the compulsory licensing or CL system works in India.

US targets China’s wind subsidy

AFTER scuttling talks on transfer of technology in the recently concluded climate change conference in Cancun, the US now wants China to stop its clean energy programme. The US, on December 22, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) that China is unfairly helping its domestic wind power equipment manufacturing industry with soft loans, cheap land and subsidies, thereby giving it a competitive edge. This is despite the fact that the US has its own green energy development programmes which run into billion of dollars.

From the blurbs

MAO’S GREAT FAMINE: THE HISTORY OF CHINA’S MOST DEVASTATING CATASTROPHE,

Trade war over green energy

WORLD’S leading green energy producers, Japan and the US have accused Canada and China of unfairly promoting domestic manufacturers of renewable energy equipment.

In-Studio: Latha Jishnu Explains Compulsory Licenses

Down to Earth Senior Editor Latha Jishnu explains how compulsory licenses can help revive India's generic drug market.