Mongkol says US talks improve

Washington DC - A second-day of negotiation in the US capital by Minister of Public Health Mongkol Na Songkhla and his team to clarify to the United States the need of Thailand to issue compulsory licensing (CL) status for three key drugs has reportedly produced fruitful results.

Participating US business leaders and politicians concerned with the pharmaceuticals business now better understand the thinking behind the Thai actions, Dr Mongkol claimed.

Interviewed via a teleconference at the Thai embassy here, Dr Mongkol said his efforts to clarify the
matter with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the US-Asean Business Council, US Chamber of Commerce, Merck Co., and US senators and representatives on Tuesday, the second and last day of his mission, had made impressive progress.

Unlike day one of the negotiations, the discussion moved in a constructive direction, Dr Mongkol said, as all parties found that information on many issues obtained by the US authorities, was inaccurate.

Included are criticisms that Thailand intended to apply CL to a wide variety of medications, and the allegation that Thailand had never negotiated nor had ever an intention to negotiate with the US pharmaceutical companies.

The Thai public health minister said that the new discussion made all parties concerned with the compulsory licensing issue to understand the relevant facts more clearly.

"We consider today's negotiation as being very successful," Dr Mongkol explained. "It gives us hope that US-Thailand relations will improve and we will be able to work on other matters smoothly.

"Frankly speaking, it is a successful day. I feel very happy and relaxed from concerns for many days whether we can weather these obstacles," he said. "Today, I would say I can sleep happily tonight."

Dr Mongkol said he had an opportunity to meet and discuss with executives of Merck, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, about appropriate prices of Aids drugs.

He had met the executives earlier this month when the latter offered a final price of the drugs at 726 baht
per patient per month.

The Thai public health minister said the company's executives had the idea of working together with
the Public Health Ministry, which is considered a constructive development.

A working committee would be set up to discuss the cooperation in giving the poor, particularly children contracting Aids from their mothers, a greater access to Efavirenz, one of the key Aids drugs.

The discussion is expected to be concluded within the next two months. Should the talks produce fruitful results, the Thai poor would be given access to buy the most effective Aids drug at an unprecedented low price. (TNA)