The role of civil society in protecting public health over commercial interests: lessons from Thailand

In November, 1999, the Thai Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) submitted a request for a compulsory licence (a legal measure that allows governments to over-ride patents and produce generic medicines) to the Thai Department of Intellectual Property. This request was supported by several local non-governmental organisations, by the Thai network of people living with AIDS, and by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The occasion represented the first in Thailand when people infected with HIV braved stigmatisation to stage public demonstrations, and proved to be a watershed event in terms of awareness and self-confidence for people with HIV/AIDS. At the same time, US AIDS activists demonstrated in Washington, DC, against Bristol-Myers Squibb and the US government, regarding their repressive trade policy with respect to drugs for HIV in Thailand and South Africa.