FTA with US `could kill 30-baht scheme'

Patent clause would block cheap medicine

A free trade agreement between Thailand and the United States could affect the government's 30-baht health-care scheme, a seminar was told yesterday.

Senator Nirand Pitakwatchara of Ubon Ratchathani said he was concerned the universal health-care coverage would be affected once the agreement, currently under negotiation, comes into effect mainly because of the inclusion of intellectual property rights being pushed by Washington.

That could possibly restrict Thailand's opportunity to exercise Compulsory Licensing, which allows developing countries to produce cheap medicines for poor people seeking access to essential drugs, Dr Nirand told the seminar at Thammasat University.

He also urged the government to review the 30-baht health-care scheme policy immediately because ``people's chances of getting quality medical services will be nil as long as politicians overseeing the (Public Health) ministry think that only aerobics and selling cosmetics are important,'' he said.

Dr Nirand also fretted about the government's medical hub plan to promote private hospitals as high-end health-care providers for foreign patients.

Kriangsak Vatcharanukulkiat, director of Phu Kradung Hospital in Loei, said the medical hub idea might ``cure'' more specialised doctors and new medical graduates into leaving state-run hospitals for the private sector due to better payment and less workload.

There are about 10,000 doctors working at state hospitals. Only one in three are based in provincial and community hospitals which take care of up to 38 million people, he said.

Virote Na Ranong, a researcher on public health services at Thailand Development Research Institute, said a plan to increase the budget for 30-baht universal coverage from 1,369 baht per capita to 1,510 baht in October next year would not reduce the financial debt burden of medium and small state hospitals because medical costs and inflation had increased in accordance with economic growth.

Bangkok Post 9th November 2004

Potential sad state of affairs isn't it. I posted on this a while ago after Mr T's opening speech at the HIV/AIDS summit in Bangkok. He was luxuriating in his success at having brought the monthly price of ARV drugs down to 30 Baht a month. He also stated that it was his intention to make them free.

No more than a month later, this free trade agreement was mooted. The net result could be that these essential medicines will revert to their former price of 3,000 baht per month.

How many Thais could afford that? Digusting.