EU Language Barrier 'costing Lives'

Doctors in some of the world's poorest countries are being denied cheap life-saving drugs for patients because Brussels lacks enough linguists to translate a new patent law into the 20 languages of the European Union, the British government said last night.

One senior minister said it was "scandalous" that children were dying of HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis as a result of bureaucratic failure, adding that the government was demanding an immediate end to almost a year of delay in providing copies of expensive western medicines.

Three cabinet members - development secretary, Hilary Benn, trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt and the chancellor, Gordon Brown - have written to Europe's trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, demanding action.

A spokeswoman for Mr Lamy said last night that translators in Brussels were doing their utmost to cope with the complex extra work caused by the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 countries this year, and promised the legislation would be ready in the autumn. "I don't think there is more difficulty with this than with any other piece of legislation."

The news came as ministers from the 147 members of the World Trade Organisation gather in Geneva in an attempt to revive the deadlocked global trade liberalisation talks. Mr Lamy met privately yesterday with ministers from the United States, Australia, India and Brazil, but sources said progress had been slow.

As part of their attempt to show that a trade deal could work for the developing world, rich countries agreed last August to amend the WTO's patent rules to allow cheap, generic drugs to be imported by poor nations.

So far only Canada among developed countries has passed new laws, and Britain is unable to do so until primary legislation is agreed in Brussels.

In their letter to Mr Lamy, the three ministers express their irritation at the slow progress made over the past 11 months. They say that it is vital to have in place a global system whereby a number of countries have sufficiently flexible patent legislation to allow their generic manufacturers to copy patented drugs. These would be sold at up to one-third of the price of patented medicines.

Britain is worried there might be further delay if the law is not ready by the time Mr Lamy and the other commissioners are replaced this year.

"We welcome the fact that the commission is keen to issue an appropriate draft regulation as soon as possible. We under stand, however, that despite your best efforts this may not now be before the autumn due to the legal requirement to have a translation into each of the EU's now 20 languages," the letter adds. "Despite these difficulties, we believe this translation should be a priority."

British government sources said the Department for International Development could pass secondary legislation within four to six weeks of a law being agreed by the EU. Ministers are keen that the west should send out a signal that it is serious about development.

"Early implementation by the EU would send a message to our citizens of our willingness to implement the agreed waiver and of the EU's strong commitment to improving access to medicines in line with the [United Nations'] Millennium Development Goals.

"Can we therefore urge the commission to do all you can to expedite the translation process so the draft can be published and EU member countries begin the process of implementation?"the letter asks.

The three global killers

HIV/Aids killed more than 3 million people in 2003, and it is estimated that 5 million contracted HIV, bringing the total number living with HIV to 40 million. In Africa, 75% of the 6.2 million 15- to 24-year-olds infected are women.

Cost of anti-retroviral therapy is $300 per person per year.

Malaria is estimated to cost Africa $12bn a year in lost GDP. There are at least 300m acute cases of malaria each year, resulting in a million deaths. Malaria is the leading cause of mortality among the under fives at 20%. Widespread resistance to conventional drugs is leading to increasing levels of infection and death.

Tuberculosis: Someone in the world is infected with TB bacilli every second. Overall, a third of the world's population is infected but only 5-10% become sick or infectious. South-east Asia accounts for 33% of all cases with 625,000 dying in 2002. The highest rate of mortality is in Africa, where HIV has led to a rapid rise in the incidence of TB and increases the likelihood of dying from the disease.

Charlotte Moore

Source: World Health Organisation and UNAIDS