The governments of five developing countries have signed a pioneer joint declaration to strengthen capacity in transferring technology for production of lower-cost drugs and vaccines for treatment of HIV/Aids.

The inter-governmental network, initiated by Brazil, aims to counter the monopoly of big pharmaceutical companies over the production of antiretroviral drugs which make up the standard medical treatment for patients.

Brazil, China, Nigeria, Ukraine and the Russian Federation signed the joint declaration in Bangkok yesterday, agreeing to share and transfer technologies in the production of anti-retroviral drugs and other medicines.

Brazilian National Aids Programme director Alexandre Domingues Grangeiro said the agreement also covers research and development in the production of vaccines and microbicides and technologies for rapid HIV tests, viral load tests and genotyping.

"The Aids pandemic constitutes a global emergency and a great challenge for the preservation of life and human dignity," he told reporters at the 15th International Aids Conference today.

"We are aiming at universal access through price reductions and effective rational use of generic medicines."

Patent laws

He said the agreement to network was in anticipation of the deadline of the adoption of the World Trade Organisation's Doha Declaration on intellectual property rights, which requires patent protection for pharmaceutical products by next year.

"We're worried that with patent laws, there will be a reduction of the availability of generic products in South countries," he said, adding that public health must be placed ahead of commercial interests.

He said the five countries form a crucial link in the fight against Aids in Asia as they have large populations as well as complementary technologies and experiences.

For instance, China has strong pharmaceutical products that could be utilised to produce antiretroviral drugs.

Russia has a strong base in lead production that could be used for the manufacturing of hardware for Aids technologies, while Brazil has good experience in producing generic drugs.

Countries which have strong capacity in producing anti-Aids medicines will export these to others with a lower capability.

The secretariat, which will be in Brazil, will operate with a launch fund of US$1 million provided by the Ford Foundation. Member-countries will meet in October to finalise needs and to work on bilateral and multilateral agreements to make technology transfers possible.

'Formidable' opposition

Asked if the effort to produce generic drugs would break patenting laws and bring down the wrath of the US and big pharmaceutical companies, he said the joint forces of the five countries would pose formidable opposition to any such pressure.

"We will get around patenting rights without breaking the law, for instance, by making small changes on the molecules without altering the efficacy (of the drugs). The big pharmaceutical companies do that all the time anyway," he said.

He said Brazil was in the midst of discussions to bring on board Thailand, India and South Africa as potential signatories to the agreement, and said other countries were welcome to do the same.

Grangeiro praised Malaysia for adopting compulsory licensing as a way of breaking patenting laws to bring in generic antiretroviral drugs, thus reducing costs sharply for patients.

Brazil has the highest number of people with Aids in Latin America, but was among the first developing countries to deal with the epidemic.

Its programme includes producing generic Aids drugs at a state-owned laboratory - which has resulted in an 87 percent reduction in price - as well as providing drug cocktails free of charge to patients.

This policy has allowed more than 100,000 people to receive antiretroviral therapy and has more than halved the Aids-related mortality rate.

ONG JU LYNN is reporting on the conference from Bangkok for malaysiakini.