CETA could reduce medicines’ affordability
Follow the links below to find out why it’s dangerous
Why are trade deals like CETA and TTIP dangerous for medicines affordability?
Negotiations for trade deals like TTIP include a focus on pharmaceuticals. Although there are some touted benefits as regards technical cooperation, the EU position on pharmaceuticals and even the new EU proposal on cooperation on generics fail to guarantee that increased coordination will result in cheaper medicines for health systems and better access for patients. The public health community remains concerned that pricing and reimbursement measures may be included in the future scope of TTIP negotiations. Pharmaceutical and health aspects are missing from the EU position on IPR too. In addition, it is not clear whether the ongoing negotiations on the EU Trade Secrets Directive will affect the availability of clinical trials data.
CETA fails to guarantee that increased coordination will result in cheaper medicines for health systems and better access for patients.
EU pharmaceutical spending in 2010 alone
Are trade agreements prescribing more expensive medicines for Europe?
The European Commission maintains that closer cooperation on trade in medicines in TTIP will lead to cost savings for pharmaceutical companies. However, it is not clear that any cost savings will translate to lower prices of medicines for national health services and patients. This is essential in the context of prohibitively expensive and rising medicines prices in Europe, which have been highlighted by the Council and the WHO as a major public health issue and are the major barrier between patients and their treatment.
How can trade deals respect universal health coverage?
In December 2016, TACD, the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue released a set of recommendations on the relationship between trade deals -specifically, TTIP- and medicinal products and devices.
