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MALAWI: “Commotion About Anti-Counterfeit Bill Is Unnecessary”

Claire Ngozo

LILONGWE, May 19 2010 (IPS) - The Malawian government intends to pass a new bill against counterfeit goods by October which will also cover medicines. This step is being taken despite fears that such a law may cause more stock-outs in a country that is already riddled with drug shortages in medical facilities.

Currently many health facilities in the country are reporting drug shortages, including of basic products such as aspirin, antibiotics and anti-retroviral drugs.

Controversy has surrounded similar anti-counterfeit legislative measures in East Africa, with opponents arguing that generic medicines risk being treated as counterfeits. Activists have emphasised that there is a distinction between counterfeit drugs, which are fakes, and generic drugs, which are cheaper versions of brand-name drugs.

Malawi relies on generic medicines which are imported from especially India, according to Aaron Sosola, acting registrar at Malawi’s pharmacy and poisons board. He told IPS that the bill has already been vetted by President Bingu wa Mutharika’s cabinet and that it is just a matter of time before it becomes law.

The country’s parliament is controlled by Mutharika’s party, the Democratic People’s Party (DPP), which holds the vast majority of seats.

Sosola explained that the bill prescribes the highest penalty for the importation of counterfeit goods as 340,000 dollars and 10 years imprisonment. Current law does not specify penalties for importing counterfeits.

“We want to protect people’s lives by ensuring that they only have access to genuine drugs and not counterfeits. The new law will ensure that strict measures are in place against those who bring counterfeit drugs into the country,” said Sosola.

Neighbouring Zambia is also pushing forward with formulating an anti-counterfeit draft law. Commenting on the objections against the proposed measures in Malawi, Zambia and East African countries, Sosola said there was no need for people to be suspicious.

“It’s about ensuring that Malawians and the people of Africa have access to quality drugs. There is no need for all this commotion about the new laws,” he said.

But if the proposed bill creates the same confusion between generics and counterfeits as the East African versions, Malawians may be heading for tough times since their country depends on generic drugs, according to the executive director of the Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), Martha Kwataine.

MHEN is an alliance of organisations and individuals who work on promoting equity and quality in Malawi’s healthcare system.

“We think that the proposed bill is not good for a country like Malawi. Actually, it is very risky for us,” Kwataine told IPS.

MHEN has attempted to get a copy of the bill but has not managed to, according to Kwataine. The organisation may launch a campaign against the bill but can only do so after studying it, she said.

Sosola told IPS that the bill is currently under wraps. “It is not a public document yet,” he said.

Kwataine’s organisation will keep on pressing government to get access to the bill. “The new law will affect many people throughout the country and we need to examine it before it is passed into law,” she insisted.

If the proposed law is similar to the East African legislative measures, it will benefit big international drug companies which own the patents for most essential drugs, she warned.

“Currently, the international drug companies are not making a lot of money out of Malawi because we are using generic drugs for major illnesses like tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS and malaria. We need to aim at making our country’s people healthier with cheaper drugs than those that are patented,” Kwataine added.

The concern about the bill links in with the “stop stock-outs campaign” that Malawian civil society is involved in, alongside civil society in countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. The “stop stock-outs campaign” is aimed at ensuring that people have access to essential medicines.

The campaign is targeted at the availability of medicines used to treat common diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, HIV, hypertension, TB, diabetes and pneumonia.

Grace Kalilombe, 62, a retired nurse from Ntcheu, a district in central Malawi, told IPS that all she wants from government is the availability of essential medicines at all times. She said it does not matter whether the drugs are generics or brand names.