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Kiwi doctors say TPP may raise medical costs

Xinhua, July 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand doctors hit out at Trade Minister Tim Groser on Wednesday, warning that the planned 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact would drive up health costs for ordinary New Zealanders.

Three senior medical specialists penned a joint commentary for the Wellington-based Dominion-Post newspaper, criticizing the government's secrecy on the agreement, which is in the final stages of negotiation, and rebutting comments by Groser.

Groser used a platform at a major U.S.-New Zealand partnership forum in Auckland last month to dismissed those who questioned the TPP as "politically irrelevant," driven by ideology and opposed to trade.

However, the commentary pointed out that the TPP was likely to "reshape our democracy" and bring changes to New Zealand's healthcare system, particularly to Pharmac, the government pharmaceuticals purchasing agency, which saves the country millions each year by negotiating drug purchases and buying generic medicines.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialist (ASMS), which claims to represent more than 4,000 medical specialists and 90 percent of the specialist workforce, issued a statement Wednesday urging Groser to "listen to the serious warning."

"He damages his government's credibility by dismissing them as politically irrelevant," ASMS executive director Ian Powell said in the statement.

Leaks of the draft TPP texts through WikiLeaks showed that large U.S. drug company monopolies would be able to interfere in the decision-making of Pharmac and severely weaken its performance, including in the control of patents, said Powell.

"In 2014, Pharmac saved more than 1.2 billion NZ dollars (806. 04 million U.S. dollars) in that year alone," said Powell.

"But this deal would increase monopoly power of large overseas drug companies. This is not free trade, instead it is introducing the power of big business into our public health service."

In November last year, delegates to the ASMS annual conference had called on the government to undertake an independent health impact assessment on the proposed agreement.

"What could be more reasonable and politically relevant than this?" said Powell. Endi