The world's new pharmacy

Australian health care consumers should also have an interest in the position of Indian generic pharmaceuticals as the global pharmacist for generic medicines. The Australia and India feasibility study (PDF 1.51MB) for a possible bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) indicated that the main imports from India, where there has been significant growth, include pharmaceutical products. Indian pharmaceutical companies could become a source of cheaper generic medicines for the Australian health care sector as well.

However, Indian generic pharmaceuticals companies’ global HIV pharmacist role for developing countries cannot be taken for granted. Two threats are looming on the horizon. Apparently, many of the generic companies have been taken over or are at the verge of being taken over by larger pharmaceutical companies specialising in selling “brand name drugs”.

And the second threat is from the Indian government and India’s own political apprehensions about protecting the production of generic medicines. The patent protection regime (PDF 139KB) will have a significant impact on the cost of medicines. The patent system is a social policy tool that aims to stimulate innovation.

Internationally, patent protection is governed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. TRIPS sets out minimum standards of patent protection that must be met by all WTO members. Developed countries have already implemented the agreement and other countries such as India began implementing it from 2005. Many people assume that the strict adherence to WTO TRIPS agreements (PDF 292KB) by the government of India may lead to the supply of cheap generic medicines for poor countries and for poor patients within India drying up.