Chapter 3 - Report of the Research and Policy Development Group Currently the Government provides free ARV therapy to HIV+ pregnant women and HIV+ children. Fears were expressed that enhanced intellectual property protection and related provisions in the Agreements may have an impact on the Government’s continued ability to provide medical assistance, thus affecting the health of PLHIV. (ii) Intellectual property protection The TPPA would require the Government to strengthen intellectual property protection by extending the duration for patents and copyrights. Extended patent protection may result in patients having to wait longer for generic medicines to be made available. Statistics in December 2010 showed that there were 91,362 reported cases of HIV infection and 16,352 AIDS cases in Malaysia. Without access to generic medicines, the NGOs believe that the right to health would be affected. They also worry that more and newer medicines will be patented. The TPPA would also introduce a provision on ‘data exclusivity’ as an administrative barrier to the marketing of generic medicines. This would prevent or delay the registration of generic medicines with the Ministry of Health (MOH), as the originator’s clinical trials and other data proving the safety and efficacy of patented medicines cannot be used, even upon expiry of the patent. (iii) Impact of liberalised trade The NGOs expressed concern over tariff liberalisation and its potential impact on the agriculture and small- and medium-scale enterprise (SME) sectors, and on employment. There is likely to be reduction in the barriers to tobacco-related trade, leading to apprehension about the impact on health. The NGOs offered several recommendations: • The Commission should urge the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to disclose details of the Agreements to enable NGOs to give their comments to the Government. • The Commission should urge the Government to be transparent and hold meaningful consultations with the relevant stakeholders. • The Commission should conduct a Public Inquiry on the impact of the FTA and TPPA on human rights in Malaysia. • The Government should consult Parliament, and a Parliamentary Committee should be set up to oversee implementation and assess the impact of the Agreements. • The Government should assess the costs and benefits of implementing the Agreements, and the implications in terms of the international human rights treaties that Malaysia has ratified. 91