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A chance t o save millions of lives by f reeing up drug pat ent s

Level 3 | Advanced
1
Sarah Bosel ey
1 Pre-reading | Vocabulary
Mat ch t he words f rom t he t ext wi t h t hei r meani ngs bel ow:
1 barri er
2 pat ent
3 R&D
4 l ock, st ock and barrel
5 i nnovat i on
6 a generi c drug (or ot her product )
7 scourge
8 t o l obby
9 t o ent i ce
10 core (adj )
a compl et el y; one hundred per cent
b t o t ry t o i nf l uence peopl e i n aut hori t y on a part i cul ar subj ect
c somet hi ng t hat causes a l ot of harm
d somet hi ng sol d wi t hout a t rademark; a copy
e an of f i ci al document t hat gi ves an i nvent or t he ri ght t o make
or sel l an i nvent i on f or a f i xed peri od of t i me and prevent s
anyone el se f rom doi ng so
f most i mport ant ; most basi c; cent ral
g t he i nvent i on or use of new i deas, met hods and equi pment
h t o persuade someone t o do somet hi ng, of t en by of f eri ng an
advant age or reward
i short f or research and devel opment
j somet hi ng t hat prevent s progress; an obst acl e
2 What do you know about pharmaceut icals and pat ent s?
Deci de whet her t hese st at ement s are t rue or f al se:
1 Drugs exi st whi ch coul d keep mi l l i ons of HIV suf f erers i n poor count ri es al i ve.
2 The pat ent syst em means t hat drugs are very cheap i n poor count ri es.
3 Pat ent s l ast f or 10 years.
4 Pat ent s mean t hat generi c versi ons of drugs may not be produced i n poor count ri es.
5 The pharmaceut i cal i ndust ry i s opposed t o any changes t o t he current syst em.
Now read t he t ext and check your answers.
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A chance t o save millions of lives by f reeing up drug pat ent s
Level 3 | Advanced
2
Sarah Bosel ey
E
very now and t hen somet hing
happens t o make t he most cynical
of us t hink t hat maybe t his could
one day become a bet t er world: t hat it s
not naive t o believe t here could be
just ice, fair play and equal life chances
for rich and poor.
Most people will have missed what s
happened because it is a good news
st ory, so t he headlines were small. But
t he consequences could be large. It
could help save t he lives of millions in
t he poor count ries of Africa and
elsewhere who are at t he moment
under t he deat h sent ence of HIV
infect ion. Medicines could keep t hem
alive, but alt hough t hose medicines
have come down
in price dramat ically, t hey are not low
enough for someone who can barely
feed his or her family. One very
import ant barrier t o rock-bot t om prices
is t he pat ent syst em. For developing a
drug, t he giant pharmaceut ical
companies are rewarded wit h 20 years
prot ect ion, enabling t hem t o recoup
t heir cost s t hrough high prices and
subst ant ial profit s. Fair enough in t he
moneyed, nort hern hemisphere. But
fat al in t he Sout h.
For years t he pharmaceut ical companies
and t he government s of count ries such
as Brit ain and t he Unit ed St at es - which
enjoy t he t axes t hey pay and t he jobs
t hey guarant ee -have insist ed t hat t he
pat ent syst em is t he lifeblood of t he
indust ry. Wit hout it t here would be no
R&D for new drugs. But last mont h a
commission present ed a report which
st at es loud and clear t hat pat ent s can
be bad for poor count ries.
All sort s of t hings are remarkable about
t his. On t he commission on int ellect ual
propert y right s sat not only lawyers,
scient ist s and a bio-et hicist , but a senior
direct or from t he drug company Pfizer.
This persons core involvement suggest s
t hat t he radical road t he report lays out
would not do such serious harm t o t he
indust ry. It could be argued t hat pat ent s
do not necessarily encourage innovat ion
- even in t he developed world.
Somet imes t hey block scient ist s from
going down promising avenues of
research. Somet imes t hey force
companies t o fight each ot her in court ,
wast ing pot ent ially millions of dollars.
Cert ainly t hey do not , and will not ,
ent ice t he drug companies t o invent
new medicines for diseases of poor
people; t he report says t he only way t o
do t hat is t o spend public money.
At t he heart of t he pat ent issue is t he
t rade and int ellect ual propert y right s
(Trips) agreement of t he World Trade
Organisat ion, which is due t o be rat ified
by t he poorest count ries by 2006.
Effect ively, Trips t ransfers a pat ent
syst em designed t o prot ect t echnologies
and drugs in affluent nort hern count ries
lock, st ock and barrel t o t he poor
sout hern nat ions. Who has most t o
gain? The commission says t hat Trips is
not always appropriat e, and t hat poorer
count ries should be allowed
t o set up levels of int ellect ual propert y
prot ect ion t hat are right for t hem.
Most import ant , t here have t o be ways
for poor count ries wit h rampaging
disease - not just Aids, but malaria, TB
and ot hers - t o bypass pat ent s. Not only
should t hey be allowed t o make cheap
generic versions of pat ent ed drugs
t hemselves, but t hey should also be
permit t ed t o buy generics made
elsewhere if t hey do not have t he
capacit y t o make t hem at home. The
commission is not preaching t he
overt hrow of capit alism. It does not
want t o cause damage t o t he
pharmaceut ical indust ry. It says t hat
pat ent s are import ant and must be
respect ed in wealt hy count ries, but t hat
t hey operat e against t he int erest s of t he
poor, who must be allowed a way out .
Of course, t he indust ry does not agree.
Pat ent s are essent ial if new medicines
are t o be developed t o fight disease in
bot h t he developed and developing
world, responded t he ABPI blunt ly. No
doubt minist ers are being lobbied. But
t he fact t hat t he report even exist s hint s
t hat t here may have been a shift in
t hinking wit hin government - a
willingness t o put humanit y ahead of
t he old cosiness wit h t he drug giant s.
The Guardian Weekly 3-10-2002, page 24
A chance to save
millions of lives by
freeing up drug patents
Sarah Bosel ey
A chance t o save millions of lives by f reeing up drug pat ent s
Level 3 | Advanced
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2
3 Comprehension Check
Choose t he best answer accordi ng t o t he i deas expressed i n t he t ext :
1 The recent report f rom t he commission on pharmaceut ical pat ent s:
a concl uded t hat t he pat ent syst em shoul d cont i nue i n i t s present f orm.
b concl uded t hat pat ent s are bad f or poor count ri es.
c at t acked t he pharmaceut i cal i ndust ry.
2 The pat ent syst em means t hat poor count ries:
a are not al l owed t o produce drugs.
b are not al l owed t o copy drugs.
c cannot i mport drugs.
3 The pharmaceut ical companies argue t hat pat ent s are essent ial:
a t o i ncrease t hei r prof i t s.
b t o guarant ee more j obs.
c t o provi de f unds f or R&D.
4 Some people believe t hat pat ent s discourage innovat ion because
a t hey wast e mi l l i ons of dol l ars.
b t hey prevent compani es f rom i nvent i ng new medi ci nes f or poor peopl e.
c t hey prevent sci ent i st s f rom f ol l owi ng promi si ng avenues of research.
5 The commission recommended t hat poor count ries:
a shoul d be abl e t o buy expensi ve drugs at cheaper pri ces.
b shoul d i gnore pat ent s.
c shoul d be al l owed t o produce and i mport generi c drugs.
onest opengl i sh.com 2002 | This page can be phot ocopied.
A chance t o save millions of lives by f reeing up drug pat ent s
Level 3 | Advanced
4
Sarah Bosel ey
Fi nd t he word
1 Fi nd t hree ot her words i n t he t ext t hat mean ri ch .
2 Fi nd an adj ect i ve whi ch means t he opposi t e of sky-hi gh .
3 Fi nd an adverb whi ch means t he same as hardl y .
4 Fi nd a verb whi ch means t o avoi d deal i ng wi t h someone or somet hi ng
5 Fi nd a verb whi ch means t o say what you are t hi nki ng or f eel i ng i n an i ndi rect way
6 Fi nd a verb whi ch means t o recover or t o get back .
7 Fi nd a verb whi ch means t o make an agreement of f i ci al by si gni ng i t .
8 Fi nd an adj ect i ve whi ch means deadl y or l et hal .
4
Mat ch t hese verbs f rom t he t ext wi t h t he nouns t hey col l ocat e wi t h.
1 t o recoup a harm
2 t o devel op b an agreement
3 t o do c l osses
4 t o wast e d di sease
5 t o rat i f y e t axes
6 t o f i ght f l i ves
7 t o save g a new product
8 t o pay h money
5 Collocat ions | Verb + Noun
Make a l i st of t he poi nt s f or and agai nst t he use of pharmaceut i cal pat ent s. Make one l i st f rom t he poi nt of
vi ew of t he pharmaceut i cal compani es and t he ot her f rom t he poi nt of vi ew of t he poor count ri es.
What , i n your vi ew, i s t he sol ut i on t o t he probl em?
6 Discussion
onest opengl i sh.com 2002 | This page can be phot ocopied.
A chance t o save millions of lives by f reeing up drug pat ent s
Level 3 | Advanced
5
Sarah Bosel ey
1 Vocabulary
1 j ; 2e; 3 i ; 4 a; 5 g; 6 d; 7 c; 8 b; 9 h; 10 f
2 True or False?
1 T; 2 F; 3 F; 4 T; 5 T
3 Comprehension Check
1 b; 2 b; 3 c; 4 c; 5 c
4 Find t he word
1 moni ed, af f l uent , weal t hy
2 rock-bot t om
3 barel y
4 t o bypass
5 t o hi nt
6 t o recoup
7 t o rat i f y
8 f at al
5 Collocat ions
1 c; 2 g; 3 a; 4 h; 5 b; 6 d; 7 f ; 8 e
6 Key