Annan favours cheap drugs for the poor

Stressing that upcoming WTO talks can make a difference between life and death for millions of people, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for giving poor countries access to cheap generic drugs as a "moral imperative" and asked the rich countries to end agricultural trade subsidies.

The World Trade Organisation talks in Cancun, Mexico, beginning next week, will decide whether poor countries "will or will not, at last, be given a real chance to trade their way out of poverty," Annan said in a video message in support of the 'Big Noise' campaign by the non-governmental organisation Oxfam.

"The decisions they take there can make the difference between poverty and starvation (perhaps even between life and death) for millions of people in poor countries," he added.

Annan emphasized two crucial issues -- access to cheap generic drugs for poor countries, on which an outline agreement was recently reached, and trade in agricultural products.

"We must now ensure that developing countries are given the support they need to make use of the mechanisms that have been agreed, so that drugs reach the millions who are suffering and dying," he said, adding that "this is a moral imperative."

He was referring to the agreement that would allow developing countries unable to produce generic versions of patented drugs to import them.

Noting that poor countries are under pressure from rich countries to liberalize their markets, yet find that many of their products are excluded from rich countries' markets by protective tariffs and quotas, Annan said: "That is not fair."

"Even less fair is the competition they face from heavily subsidised producers in those same rich countries. These subsidies push prices down, driving the farmers in poor countries out of business."

"Far from being empowered, the fisherman in Vietnam, the cotton-grower in Burkina Faso, and the indigenous cultivator of medicinal herbs in Brazil are being held down. Many of the poorest countries lose more through missed trading opportunities than they receive in aid or debt relief," he added.