KENYA: Anti-Counterfeit Law 'Violates Right to Life and Health'

• by Susan Anyangu-Amu (nairobi)
• Monday, December 21, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The three petitioners want the Constitutional Court to declare the law, which was enacted in the middle of this year, unconstitutional on the grounds that it will deny them access to affordable life-saving generic medicines and therefore rob them off their right to life, says Peter Munyi, an intellectual property rights lawyer working with Health Action International (HAI) Africa.

HAI Africa is part of a global network working to increase access to life-saving medicines.

The issue is of life-and-death importance as generics, which are between 70 and 90 percent cheaper than their brand-name counterparts, have enabled poor people in developing countries to get the necessary treatment.

International donors that fund drug distribution, including the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, also source from generics manufacturers.

James Kamau, co-ordinator of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement, an activist organisation advocating access to anti-retrovirals, has previously pointed out that the Anti-Counterfeiting Act of 2008 contains ambiguities which could lead to misinterpretation, undermining the government’s efforts to ensure access to essential medicines for all Kenyans.

Christa Cepuch, director of programmes at HAI Africa, adds that the act, which is aimed at cracking down on fake batteries, pens, drugs and cosmetics, 'contains a vague definition of counterfeiting which could be read to include generic drugs'. She describes generic medicines as legitimate, effective and exact copies of brand-name products.

The law makes the manufacturing, importation or sale of 'counterfeit goods' a criminal offence rather than a civil matter, which is the usual way in which disputes over intellectual property rights are resolved.

The onus to verify whether goods are fakes or not has been put on customs officials and police officers. 'We’ll have Kenya Revenue Authority officials trying to figure out if drugs are fakes or not. This increases the risk of products being labelled fakes,' Cepuch says.

'The law further gives these officials excessive powers, making the process difficult and expensive. Moreover, the onus to prove the products are not fakes lies with the accused, a price many will not be willing to pay.'

Activists such as Kamau argue that the existing Pharmacy and Poisons Board should be in charge of combating counterfeit medicines as it has the necessary technical expertise to deal with such issues — which customs officials don’t. The latter could 'imagine' something is counterfeit and cost the lives of many.

The idea that essential medicines could be delayed for months at ports of entry is not far-fetched, based on what has happened in Europe where 22 seizures of perfectly legitimate generic drugs destined for developing countries have taken place in the recent past.

'The risk is simply too high and will potentially keep away generics manufacturers and importers. This is also because the cost of the whole process, should the products be confused for counterfeits, will be too high,' Munyi cautions.

The Kenyan law seems to be serving as a template for similar policies at regional level in East Africa and in neighbouring Uganda. Health advocates fear an 'anti-counterfeiting' agenda is being pushed by actors who do not have the interests of poor people at heart.

Suspicion has also been raised by the speed at which the Kenyan bill was passed and acceded to.

'Parliament was under immense pressure to pass bills that would change Kenya’s political dispensation (after the election violence in 2008). However, they somehow found time to deal with this less urgent bill at the time.

'And no sooner had it been passed than the commencement notice was published by the minister -- despite earlier indications that there was no budget allocated to effect the bill,' Munyi says.

Further suspicion was raised when the minister for industrialisation on Jul 24, 2009 backdated commencement of the legislation to Jul 7, 2009, a day before the suit was launched in the Constitutional Court.

'We believe the government should combat counterfeiters and counterfeit goods, including medicines, some of which have been seized in the Kenyan market. However, this should not be done at the expense of the health of millions of Kenyans and their right of life,' according to Cepuch.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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