(10-01) 19:47 PDT TORONTO (AP) --
Canada came under pressure Wednesday to quickly allow generic drug makers to supply cheap copies of patented medicine to poor countries, but a government spokesman said such a step would likely take months.
The U.N. special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa joined aid agencies and other nongovernment organizations in calling for Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government to immediately amend the patent law so Canadian generic drug makers can take part in a recent World Trade Organization agreement.
Cabinet ministers and Chretien's successor have said they support the WTO deal on exporting generic drugs to developing countries that cannot make their own.
Stephen Lewis, the U.N. envoy who is Canadian, praised the government for its support but said it must now act to get less-expensive generic copies of patented medicines to African nations where millions are dying.
"At the moment in Africa, only 50,000 to 75,000 people are in treatment of the 4.1 million who are said to be eligible for treatment," Lewis told a news conference held with Doctors Without Borders, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and others.
The news conference was intended to maintain a high-profile public campaign in Canada for enacting the WTO deal reached Aug. 30.
The WTO deal creates a legal loophole allowing the most desperate countries to override patents on expensive drugs and order cheaper copies from generic manufacturers, with patent holders receiving a small payment.
AIDS drugs are a particular concern because they are far too expensive for patients in Africa, where the disease rates are high. The average AIDS patient in the United States takes a combination of drugs that costs about $14,000 annually -- far beyond the budgets of developing countries.
Generic versions of those drugs cost a fraction of that amount.
Canada's patent laws currently prohibit drug producers from copying patented medicines for 20 years, except for national distribution in emergencies.
In Ottawa, spokesman Andre Lemay of the department of foreign affairs and international trade said the government wants to move carefully to avoid any subsequent legal challenges.
"You want to make sure that what you have is something you can live with, and that it won't come back to haunt you three or four or five years down the road," Lemay said.
He noted the WTO has asked a council on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to analyze the deal starting in January, with a tentative six-month deadline to report back on potential problems.
The pharmaceutical industry warns that opening Canada's patent law to allow generic copies of patented drugs could harm future investment for research and development. It seeks a narrow interpretation of the WTO agreement, with the loophole only applying to specific countries with an emergency need and no capacity to produce medicines.
Lewis noted the huge amounts of medicine required -- 4 million tablets a day to meet the goal of treating 2 million HIV/AIDS patients in Africa alone -- and acknowledged that the pharmaceutical lobby will make progress difficult.
Lemay, the government spokesman, said Canada's ability to make a major difference was limited.
"We can say, `Hey, go for it,' but we're not a big player," he said. "The U.S. and European Union are the big players."
