Medicines for Africa - Obasanjo Speaks On UK-India Trade Deal
- President Obasanjo said the UK's proposals will lead to "huge cost increases for health systems and catastrophic delays in accessing medicines".
- Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that a UK-India trade deal "will lead to huge cost increases for health systems and catastrophic delays in accessing medicines if British negotiating demands are met."
- The UK wants India to implement sweeping changes to its intellectual property rules as part of any agreement, "threatening India's ability to supply inexpensive quality medicines to the rest of the world."
- In an opinion piece published on devex, Mr Obasanjo describes Indian generics as "a lifeline" which he noted helped to make HIV medicines affordable for African countries.
- He however said "a trade deal between India and the UK could cut short the lifeline."
- "During my time as president of Nigeria, I saw the impact of Indian generics firsthand. In 1999, as I began my second term in office, Nigeria could not afford HIV treatment, even though we were experiencing one of the worst epidemics in Africa at the time," he said.
- "In the early 2000s, Indian generics slashed the price of treatment from more than $10,000 a year per patient to just around $365, a dollar a day. By 2008, India supplied 84 per cent of Nigeria's antiretroviral HIV medicines, saving countless lives."He noted that Nigeria is now one of India's top five importers of pharmaceuticals, spending over half a billion dollars annually.Medicines for Africa - Obasanjo Speaks On UK-India Trade Deal
