Mr. Chairman, I realize the time is short. I will cover a number of issues pertaining to the WTO discussions and health care.
This debate has been an important one as we head into a week when our Minister for International Trade heads to Qatar for important discussions on world trade.
The best thing I can do in concluding the debate is relay the concerns of many Canadians and express the hope that the government is listening carefully to the concerns of organizations that come from far and wide representing many different interests.
We have pursued the issue vigorously these last several hours. If there is one concern I am left with it is the notion I have heard time and again from Alliance members and others that when we in the NDP raise legitimate concerns we are being bleeding hearts and keeping our heads in the sand.
Let us be clear that we are dealing with serious situations in terms of Canada's ability to govern as a sovereign state and in terms of our role on the world stage. If members in the House want to suggest we are bleeding hearts when we talk about 14 million people dying annually around the world from communicable diseases we will wear the title with pride. It is unfortunate when we cast aspersions on members for raising legitimate points of view.
It is important in this debate to remember the facts some members would like to keep hidden: the fact that about a third of the world's population lacks access to essential medicines; the fact that every year two million people die of tuberculosis and eight million people develop active TB; the fact that there are 300 million to 500 million new cases of malaria every year; and the fact that there is a serious pandemic in the world of HIV-AIDS.
These are serious issues we have an obligation to address both in the House and as we participate in world trade discussions.
In the few minutes I have left I will put before the House the importance of weighing the issue of upholding public health over private wealth. It is an issue that comes up time and time again in these discussions. It is important to recognize that Canada has a role to play and can offer the world important leadership on matters of public health.
The first area we must look at is patent protection versus patients' rights or property rights versus public health. One of the major discussions coming forward at the WTO pertains to changing the rules or ensuring nothing can be done to prevent countries from taking measures to protect public health or the human right to health.
We have asked questions in the House about Canada's position with respect to a strong ministerial declaration in terms of allowing countries to take strong measures to protect public health. We have asked about ensuring Canada plays a role in allowing cheaper and more accessible generic drugs to be made available in third world developing countries.
To date unfortunately the government has not taken that kind of strong position. I refer particularly to the Médecins sans frontières organization which says Canada has joined a handful of wealthy countries in putting forward a vague counterproposal that does little more than restate what is already in the Trips agreement. The counterproposal fails to address most of the key needs identified by developing countries.
It certainly is a serious omission on the part of the Canadian government, which has to be addressed, and I hope this debate will move the Minister for International Trade to actually go to these ministerial discussions in Qatar with the absolute, unequivocal position that we will join with the 60 or more other countries that want to ensure public health comes first.
In that regard let me suggest to the government that it also look at its strong but incomprehensible position, because of its whole focus and fixation on patent protection, around preventing generic companies in Canada from producing drugs needed in third world and developing countries. Surely it would be in the interests of Canada's role on the world stage to ensure that third world countries and developing countries have access to drugs that can be produced here.
Let me also point out that as the government goes forward with WTO discussions it should also look at carving out very clearly Canada's public health system from trade-offs on the world stage. That is a concern that has been identified by many organizations, in particular the Canadian Medical Association, an organization that certainly has presented a balanced position and has called upon the government to at least have consultations with Canadians.
Finally, there is a role for Canada to play on the world stage in terms of tobacco control. Canada has been offering some leadership with respect to the framework convention on tobacco control, or FCTC, but has not mandated its officials to go forward in a firm way to ensure that we play a leadership role on that front.
Those are three areas that I think the government can begin to address immediately and ensure that it is standing up for public health versus private wealth.