Patents in Medicines

• An expert committee on compulsory licensing has recommended that the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) issue a compulsory licence for the manufacture of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s anti-cancer drug Dasatinib to two companies
• It will be India’s second compulsory licence and a significant blow to the New York-based drug maker. A compulsory licence would allow the government to produce a generic version of the patented medicine and sell it at a cheaper price.
• In March 2012, India issued its first compulsory licence to Natco Pharma Ltd for the manufacture of Bayer AG’s Nexavar, another anti-cancer drug.
• Under the Indian patents Act, a compulsory licence for manufacture of a patented pharmaceutical product can be issued if the drug is considered unaffordable by the government.
• The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement allows a country to issue a compulsory licence without the consent of the innovator if it is in public interest.
• In January 2013, the health ministry approached DIPP for issuance of compulsory licences for three anti-cancer drugs —Roche Holding AG’s breast cancer treatment Herceptin (Trastuzumab); and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s leukaemia medicine Sprycel (Dasatinib) and chemotherapy drug Ixempra (Ixabepilone). India’s patent office comes under the purview of DIPP.
• DIPP forwarded this request to the committee on compulsory licensing, which has reached a decision on all three drugs. A single 50ml vial of 40mg Trastuzumab costs Rs.1.24 lakh, a 45mg vial of Ixempra costs Rs.66,430.60 and 60 tablets of 20mg each of Dasatinib are priced at Rs.1.17 lakh.

Patents in India : Under protection or over protection

• The Indian Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment in April, turned down a request by the pharmaceutical company Novartis to retain the patent on a cancer drug because it judged the drug to be an extension of existing medications, not a groundbreaking advancement.
• In fact, a U.S. court invalidated a Pfizer patent covering a blood pressure medication (Norvasc) on grounds very similar to the Novartis decision, i.e. mere physical advantages cited for the salt form such as increased stability and solubility were not good enough to merit patent protection.
• Between 2005 and 2011, more than 4,000 patents for pharmaceutical inventions were issued by the Patent Office. Of these, more than 85 per cent were awarded to multinational drug companies.

 

National Facts

• While India as a whole has 31 per cent of its population under the age of 14, the corresponding number for U.P. is 35.69 per cent and an astounding 40.1 per cent for Bihar.Today’s children, who come overwhelmingly from U.P. and Bihar, will form the workforce of the future.
• The office of the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner released ‘single year age data’ for the 2011 Census ,which refers to the number of people at each year of age in the population. The data shows that India’s working age population (15-64 years) is now 63.4% of the total, as against just short of 60% in 2001. The numbers also show that the ‘dependency ratio’ — the ratio of children (0-14) and the elderly (65-100) to those in the working age — has shrunk further to 0.55.
• Tripura surged ahead of Kerala to achieve top position in literacy chart in India. The state fell short to become fully literate state, but as of date stands at 94.65 percent.
• India has also the highest number of female millionaires in the world as the country boasts of over 1,250 UHNW women with a combined fortune of $95 billion.Notwithstanding the continuing economic gloom, India has recorded the largest increase in its Ultra-High Net worth Individual (HNIW) club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country
• Only 15 states have so far set up their own respective State Disaster Response Force following direction from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) earlier 2013.

Terms

Hepatitis B

• Individual Donor-Nucleic Acid Testing (ID-NAT) advanced screening technology.
• Doctors said that HBV, known as a “silent killer”, is more infectious than HIV and is the cause for liver cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
• Hepatitis (liver inflammation) occurs when the liver, in reaction to harmful elements (commonly drugs, alcohol and viruses), swells and slowly loses its ability to function.
• Hepatitis B Virus is not spread by contaminated food. It is transmitted through contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected person.

Farmer’s Club

Farmer Club

 

 

 

Definition : 

 

• Grassroot level informal forums of farmers
• Such Clubs are organized by rural branches of banks with the support and financial assistance of NABARD for the mutual benefit of the banks concerned and the village farming community/rural people.
• All Institutional Agencies (Commercial Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks) and all grassroot level organisations (NGOs, PRIs, State Agricultural Universities, KVKs, ATMA, Post Offices etc.) are eligible to form Farmers’ Clubs.

 

History :

 

• The Farmers’ Clubs programme which was earlier known as “Vikas Volunteer Vahini (VVV) Programme” was launched by NABARD in 1982.
• The programme was directed towards development in rural areas through credit, technology transfer, awareness and capacity building.
• The “VVV Programme” was renamed as “Farmers’ Club Programme” in 2005 by revisiting its earlier mission.

 

Need : 

 

• Around 60% of country’s population depends on agriculture which contributes 18% to India’s GDP. The Tenth Five Year Plan and National Agriculture Policy documents envisage a growth level of 4% in Agriculture. However the growth of the sector has not been satisfactory with less than 2% growth in the last 50 years.
• To meet the targeted growth it is imperative improve productivity and reduce costs by improving efficiency.
• The emerging needs in agriculture sector now are adoption of location specific skill and knowledge based technologies, promote greater value addition to agriculture produce, forge new partnerships between public institutions, technology users and the corporate sector, harness IT more effectively to realize financial sustainability and compete in the international market.

 

Functions : 

 

• Coordinate with banks to ensure credit flow among its members and forge better bank borrower relationship,
• Organise minimum one meeting per month
• Interface with subject matter specialists in the various fields of agriculture and allied activities etc
• Liaison with Corporate input suppliers to purchase bulk inputs on behalf of members.
• Market rural produce and products

 

Financial Aid from NABARD 

 

• NABARD’s policy support for Farmers’ Club Programme lays stress on linking technologies with farmers’ club members and also facilitating market access.
• NABARD also provides financial assistance of Rs.10,000/- per club per annum for a period of 3 years to all agencies irrespective of whether they are institutional or other agencies and also the region concerned.

 

Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill

Introduction :

Surrogacy in commercial form is legal in India with the landmark Supreme Court judgment and later, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Guidelines 2005 which prescribed conduct and use of ART procedures or treatment by fertility clinics. Subsequent to this the ART (Regulation) Bill 2010 was formulated by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, which is still awaiting enforcement. The ART Bill legalised commercial surrogacy by providing for payment as “monetary compensation” to the surrogate mother by the intending couple.

 

Critics :

1. There is no maximum age limit prescribed under the Bill for the couples or individual in order to be eligible to make use of ART though the minimum age limit is prescribed as 21 years.
2. There is no screening of the socio-economic/family background of the couples. Neither are there any eligibility criteria for an individual to be a fit parent to have child via surrogacy. There is no appointed government body to monitor the issue.
3. The ART Bill prohibits sex-selective surrogacy in consonance with the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act

Blood

Who can Donate Blood ? 

1. Anybody between 18-60 years of age.
2. Ensure a 3 month gap between donations.
3. Those who weigh over 45kg can donate 350 ml of blood and over 56kg can donate 450 ml of blood
4. Those who are HIV positive or have any STDs cannot donate blood.
5. Those suffering from high BP,heart diseases, or have a history of jaundice,tuberculosis,leprosy,hepatitis B/C are permanent deferrals and cannot donate blood.
6. Those who have unexplained weigh loss,swollen glands and continuous low grade fever are advised not to donate blood.
7. Time restrictions for those who have consumed antibiotics , steroids, alcohol or have undergone immunization before blood donation.
8. Pregnant,lactating and menstruating women cannot donate blood.