Harvard Pledges To Make Medical Technology Accessible

CORRECTIONS APPENDED

Harvard and five other institutions of higher learning signed a statement articulating their commitment to promoting medical technology accessibility to developing countries on Monday, stirring both criticism among students that the University did not do enough.

In the document, entitled “Statement of Principles and Strategies for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies,” the constituents have agreed that “intellectual property should not become a barrier to essential health-related technologies needed by patients in developing countries.”

Krishna M. Prabhu ’11, a member of the Harvard chapter of the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), said that he thought that medical patents were problematic and adversely affect human health in developing countries such as India and China.

Patents significantly increase the price of drugs in these nations due to the lack of competition from producers of the similar product, he said. Without a patent, the generic drug is likely to become more affordable.

Currently, the six-school pledge makes an exception for “special circumstances” in developing countries, including India, China or Brazil, allowing drug patents in some developing countries.

“The biggest issue is the fact that they are still planning on patenting in the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—and that is problematic,” said Jillian L. Irwin ’11, a member of Harvard UAEM. “For us, the challenge is to ensure that they are not putting patents [on the drugs] and that there is a strategy in place for poor people to get them.”

Both Irwin and Prabhu said that the statement signed by Harvard does not guarantee access to affordable, generic drugs for those in developing countries.

According to Prabhu, “Harvard has covered no bases.”

Kevin Casey, a spokesperson for Harvard, said that decisions about these technologies are difficult to make.

“There is a very delicate system of innovation that the technologies make before it is brought to the market place at all,” he said.

“It is an evolving field,” Casey said, adding that, “Right now our efforts have resulted in very important principles.”

Students from the Harvard UAEM suggest forming a committee made of both students and global health experts to review policy.

“They are not unprecedented because committees like these have existed for conflict of interests,” said Prabhu. “In the end, it is better for more people to think about how we license out technology.”

The Harvard UAEM will be holding a rally in the Yard next Thursday.

CORRECTIONS

An earlier version of the Nov. 13 article "Harvard Pledges To Make Medical Technology Accessible" misspelled the last name of Krishna M. Prabhu '11 as Praghu.

In the initial version, Prabhu was also indirectly quoted as saying that patents adversely impact human health worldwide. In fact, his concerns about patents were specifically made with respect to developing nations.

The version also incorrectly referred to the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) as UAME on one occasion, and said that the organization's rally on Thursday would be held in front of the Science Center. In fact, it will be held in the Yard.