Trading Away Health: What to Watch Out for in Free Trade Agreements

Generic competition saves lives.  High medicine prices hurt patients and restrict the capacity of governments and other treatment providers to respond to medical needs.  India’s contribution to the health of the developing world cannot be underestimated.  

Current and future free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and certain developed countries threaten to tighten the screws on the production and export of affordable essential medicines so that they are once more priced out of reach. 

This briefing document details some of the FTAs being negotiated which threaten to limit the production of affordable medicines in India and their use across the developing world.  It sets out the provisions of FTAs which threaten access to medicines and MSF’s recommendations.