Even as India and the European Union (EU) inch closer to threshing out a free-trade agreement, the unresolved issue of seizures by EU member countries of Indian generic drugs on their way to other destinations continues to sour relations between the two. Over a score of such incidents of unlawful confiscation of Indian drug shipments by European customs authorities have occurred in the past three years. Ironically, most of such...

The project will focus on malaria and Tuberculosis VHAI has been working in Orissa for several years French non-governmental organisation Doctors of the World (Medecins du Monde) has tied up with the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) to provide health care facility and awareness in Bhawanipatna in Orissa. Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Pierre Micheletti, former president of Medecins du Monde (MDM) said the aim is to facilitate and supplement the...

Bihar's programme of filing RTI applications through a call center is a novel one. The question is whether the model is effiicient enough to be replicated in other states like Karnataka. If you are in Bihar, you can get electronic goods repaired, phone numbers, buy things through call centres — and also file an RTI application. Zafar Hassan has filed two applications in the past two years through call centres,...

Multinational drug companies appear to have used the Prime Minister’s Office to try and influence government policies that may severely undermine availability of affordable medicines, a group of non-government organisations has said. In a joint letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 50 NGOs said the PMO had asked the ministry of health and the departments of legal affairs and industrial policy to examine intellectual property rights issues raised by foreign pharmaceutical...

The discussion paper on compulsory licensing of patents will have achieved its purpose if it can lead to a proactive policy in the area of drugs and health. IN a proactive move to ensure a fair balance between protection of intellectual property rights and protection of the public interest, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has chosen to put out a discussion...