I don't know enough about the second item you mentioned, on the competition between the generics and the brand names, Keith—it's nice to be able to call you Keith, and I know Brian, so at least I know a couple of people on a first-name basis. I think it would raise enormous complications around international intellectual property rights law, and it would be very difficult to draft legislation that actually worked on the second suggestion you made.
On the first suggestion you made about CIDA effectively purchasing drugs and getting them into the countries that require them, again I think you have a real problem unless you have legislation that results in the issuing of a compulsory licence. Apparently we're not going to get a voluntary licence; that went by the boards in the negotiating period over the last two or three years. If you're going to have a voluntary licence you need to have a vehicle to get that licence in place pretty quickly, whether or not CIDA is involved.
It seems to me the focal point of this committee's deliberations—forgive my presumption—is how to get a compulsory licence. How do you manage to have a generic company produce the kinds of medications that will be absolutely treasured in Africa and result in the saving of huge numbers of lives? Whether at some point after the compulsory licence CIDA is able to intercede the way other purchasers have—UNICEF intercedes as a purchaser and a distributor, and the Global Fund intercedes, etc.—the compulsory licence has to be available. They intercede now with India where it isn't a problem, but I suspect they would intercede with Canada if we issued a compulsory licence for fixed-dose combinations, first-line therapies.
On Lesotho, the Clinton Foundation said to Lesotho within one month of the problem being raised, “We will sign a memorandum of undertaking with you that we will negotiate the price of drugs downwards.” It was with Lesotho that they gave the price of $139 per person per year. They offered it literally within a month of having the problem raised with them, simply because they had constructed an apparatus to negotiate with the generics in India. They would negotiate with generics in Canada and be a vehicle. We would be part of the realm that the Clinton Foundation or others used to provide the drugs for Africa.
So I think everything is essentially in place in Canada, except that we have—forgive me—lousy legislation that doesn't work. If we could make it work, Canada would have this pre-eminent role. I love that thought for my country. I think it's a wonderful thought.