-The Hindu The Supreme Court has denied Novartis a patent for its anti-cancer drug Gleevec. This leaves the door open for Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce their own versions of the drug. Since these are sold at roughly one tenth of the patented brand price, for thousands of cancer patients it means the difference between medicine and no medicine at all. It is not just cancer patients that will benefit, but...
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Rajasthan launches free diagnosis scheme today
-The Times of India JAIPUR: A free diagnosis scheme which had been on a trial run since April 1 would be launched throughout Rajasthan in a phased manner from Sunday on the eve of the World Health Day. Under the scheme, patients can undergo 57 free diagnostic tests at government hospitals linked to medical colleges. Another 44 tests would be offered free of cost at district and satellite hospitals. The scheme's second...
More »What Right To Education? Failing to meet the prescribed norms, half of the existing schools will lose their recognition -Arvind Panagariya
-The Times of India The three-year compliance period for the Right to Education (RTE) Act is just over. What has the Act accomplished? Sadly, not very much that is positive. A key provision in the law abolishes board examinations and grants automatic promotion to each child to the next grade at the end of the academic year. It also requires the award of a diploma to all at the end of eight...
More »Patent justice-Sakthivel Selvaraj
-The Hindu Drug patents are designed to create profits that enable more research on diseases affecting millions. But in practice, they have often generated super profits for big pharma companies while erecting access barriers for the poor. The Novartis case spotlights much that is wrong with the system. The rejection of the Novartis petition challenging one of the most progressive tenets of the Indian Patents Act (1970), as amended in 2005 by...
More »Novartis patent ruling a victory in battle for affordable medicines-Sarah Boseley
-The Guardian Had Novartis won, it would have set a precedent for patenting of other medicines in India, delaying their reaching the poor The battle for affordable, life-saving medicines for poor countries was once waged on first-world city streets with banners and placards. But for some years now it has been a long-hard legal slog in offices and courtrooms. A decade or so ago, it was mostly about access to Aids drugs. Firms...
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