Hold Western Tourists Hostages?

[Gadfly]

A little more background to what is going on here. This is all about compulsory licesning. I have no fixed, universal views on the issue and I am certainly no expert in this area, but Thailand's rationale for doing this takes compulsory licensing to a new level.

 

Countries are allowed to break patents when they have a medical emergency for special drugs needed specifically to address that emergency, but they are only supposed to do this after consulting the patent holder and do it selectively. Otherwise, the exception (compulsory licensing) will begin to swallow the rule (enforce patents). It is primarily intended for the poorest of the poor (African) countries with, say, 30% HIV rates, but rich countries can employ it if there is an acute and unexpected emergency (anthrax). Seems fair to me if there really is an emergency.

 

So why and how is Thailand doing it? It doesn't have a 30%+ HIV rate (more like 1%) and it is considered a middle income country (compare it with Africa). Thailand didn't bother to consult the patent holders. And in Thailand, the compulsory licensing will not only apply to HIV drugs, but also medications for chronic heart conditions and arthritis. Medical emergency?

 

More like economics. Recall the popular 30 Baht health scheme. That really is expensive in a country like Thailand, but if you can reduce costs by breaking patents, it may be affordable. It is certainly popular, and I can understand why - free lunches are always popular even though they are not sustainable. But wait there is more.

 

Thailand's budget is even tighter now because the government increased the militairy budget by several billion US dollars. So the shortfall is really starting to hurt.

 

On the revenue side, breaking patents also helps boost Thailand's medical tourism industry. Makes drugs generally cheaper for elderly patients flying over to have non-emergency condictions treated. And lower costs means higher profits for the (connected) owners of treatment facilities? Hmm...

 

I think this is why we saw the over-the-top response from Thailand's rep to the WHO. They got called on what was happening.

 

There may be a case for compulsory licesning in Thailand of some drugs; not really my issue. But that sure doesn't seem to true with what is happening here. Hence the menancing threats when Thailand was called on it?

 

I am adding this to my third prong of Thailand's "unholy trinity" of bad - "grab and run" - economic policy measures.