National Action: Advocating for the Medicines Patent Pool

Lead A National Action

Reducing the financial obstacles that prevent access to life-saving medications is crucial. PHR’s National Action on access to essential medicines is an opportunity for you to address this urgent health access issue.  As students in the health profession, your unique voice enables you to work to raise awareness of the need to base the policies that govern HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment on human rights, and reduce disparities that prevent vulnerable populations from receiving adequate care.

Educate Your Campus

Using the materials and resources in this Toolkit, educate your campus through targeted events and educational messages. This Toolkit includes a list of videos, policy briefs, reports and more to help educate yourself and your community on the obstacles to access to essential medicines and how you can help.

For educational materials, see this Toolkit’s information on [3]Access to Essential Medicines [2], AIDS & Essential Medicines [1], and The Medicines Patent Pool. [4]

For guidance, see this Toolkit’s Planning Resources: Leading a Successful National Action, [5] which offers general tips for preparation, and this National Action’s more specific Action Guide: How to Mobilize Your Campus For Universal Access. [8]

Mobilize Your Campus To Advocate

Mobilize your campus to urge the pharmaceutical industry to license patents for essential medicines in the Medicines Patent Pool. UNITAID’s Medicines Patent Pool has been established and the National Institutes of Health has licensed its patent for the ARV darunavir. As a first step towards a sustainable method for reducing the price of ARVs and supporting innovations, urge Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tibotec, and Merck to license their patents for important ARVs to the Medicines Patent Pool.

As of early 2011, none of these companies have released patents for ARVs to the Medicines Patent Pool:

• Tibotec’s restrictive licensing agreements prevent the manufacture of generic ARVs in much of the developing world. They remain uninvolved in the Patent Pool.
• Merck is focused on assessing alternative options to enhance access to HIV medicines, but is unprepared to enter into the Patent Pool.
• The focus of Bristol-Myers Squibb remains on Secure the Future, their initiative to fight HIV/AIDS. Like Tibotec and Merck, B-MS is not included in the Patent Pool.

Print and bring copies of this Toolkit’s letters to the CEOs of Tibotec [7], Merck [6], and Bristol-Myers Squibb [9] urging participation in the Medicines Patent Pool to your events. Encourage your fellow classmates to sign the letters.  We’ve provided the text – all you need to do is print copies, ask for your peers’ signatures, and mail the letters to PHR at:

Hope O’Brien

PHR National Student Program

2 Arrow Street, Suite 301

Cambridge, MA 02138

Goal for each chapter: Send PHR 50 signed letters