DAP said it will continue to raise concerns over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) as long as concerns over issues such as the price of medicines remain unanswered.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in a statement today said while he stands corrected after repeating an earlier Malaysiakini report on what President Barack Obama was initially reported to have said on the future price of medicines, the fact remains that Malaysians are still in the dark about the TPPA’s impact on future medical costs.
“The issue of whether the prices of medicines including the so-called ‘biologic’ pharmaceutical products will increase in Malaysia as a result of the TPPA still remains unanswered by the Malaysian authorities.
“Is the five-to-eight year protection for biologics an overly long period of excessive protection for medicines that are presented as the future hope for mankind?” asked Lim in a statement today.
Lim at the DAP Youth national convention yesterday said DAP would vote against the TPPA when it is debated next January because the impact on the prices of medicines as a result of the implementation of the TPPA cannot be clarified by the ministers.
Lim also quoted Malaysiakini , which had erroneously reported Obama admitting that medicine prices would rise following the TPPA, which the news portal has since corrected .
However, Lim said other issues with the controversial trade agreement remain.
“Another issue which has not been addressed by the TPPA is the abuse of patent protection.
“We have seen this happen in the case of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which raised the cost of a life-saving treatment for people with HIV and weakened immune systems by 5,500 percent overnight (US$13.50 to US$750).
“This hike was carried out in August/September 2015, shortly after a financial investor bought the rights to the drug,” said Lim, who is also Penang chief minister.
“As such, these concerns will continue to be raised by the DAP regarding the TPPA as well as other areas of concerns surrounding the TPPA,” he said.
