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Oxfam said the deal would simply load more debt on countries that were already among the poorest in the world. This deal amounts to a credit-line which locks poor countries into buying expensive patented drugs, when what they need is help to make or buy low cost generic equivalents. "The G8 nations promised last year to write-off $100 billion worth of poor country debt. But little of that has been delivered. For the US this week to offer these same poor countries another $1 billion of debt is wrong-headed," said Oxfam head of advocacy Phil Bloomer. The debt owed by sub-Saharan African nations currently stands at $15.2 billion. "This offer has been publicised as an act of kindness toward Africa's 24.5 million sufferers of HIV/AIDS," Bloomer said. "In fact, the money will flow straight into the pockets of the US pharmaceutical industry." The deal will help the drug companies fight off competition from "generic", or equivalent drugs manufactured out-of-patent and much cheaper by countries like Brazil and India. The companies consider these generic drugs to be a violation of intellectual property that the companies say is protected by patents and trade agreements enforced by the WTO. The anti-AIDS drug called stavudine anti-retroviral, for instance, costs $6.10 per daily dose in Uganda, where it is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, but just 55 cents in Brazil, where it is produced generically. Brazil and India are among the few countries in the world that started local anti-AIDS drug production before the WTO rules on intellectual property rights were applied. "The best way to begin helping the poor countries of sub-Sahara Africa is to cancel their debt so they can invest in health, education and development," Bloomer said. "And an important way to begin helping the millions of AIDS-sufferers in sub-Sahara Africa is to change the WTO rules to allow countries to produce or purchase affordable generic drugs." ©
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