The American Public Health Association says the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement may endanger public health.
The nation's largest nurses union Thursday also released a statement opposing the trade agreement.
During its annual conference in Chicago this week, the APHA presented a new policy that recommends negotiations “assess the health and human rights impact of trade agreements and steer clear of creating barriers to health care services and medicine, such as limiting clinical trial data transparency.”
The group argues that the trade agreement prioritizes commercial interests over public health especially when it pertains to issues of tobacco and alcohol control.
Dr. Elizabeth Wiley, an attorney and University of Maryland family medicine resident and member of APHA, which promotes universal health coverage, said that the TPP treaty's “potential implications for public health are very profound.”
Wiley, a former president of the American Medical Student Association, said the treaty could threaten the use of therapeutic reference pricing, which Australia and entities such as the California Public Employees' Retirement System use to control healthcare costs.
The agreement could also be used to encourage or even force privatization of healthcare services or medical education in countries where public financing is the norm, Wiley said. That would prevent governments from regulating the delivery of care. There is also concern that public health efforts to control obesity could be challenged by commercial interests.
All these concerns are exacerbated by a lack of transparency and public access to the negotiation process. The tobacco industry's history of challenging cigarette packaging regulations in Australia and other countries provides evidence that these concerns need to be taken seriously, Wiley said.
National Nurses United has also taken up the cause, Thursday releasing a statement that said “nurses are particularly appalled at monopoly pricing protections for giant pharmaceutical firms.”
“That could be a death sentence for countless patients in need of affordable medications around the world” and would expand ability of corporate giants to use corporate tribunals to seek to overturn public health and safety laws, said RoseAnn DeMoro, NNU executive director and AFL-CIO vice president.
The treaty reduces monopoly pricing rules for drug giants from 12 years, what the U.S. had first demanded, to five years.
DeMoro and others argue that patent exclusivity rules will prevent cheaper, generic versions of high-priced brand name drugs to go to market.
The full text of the trade pact was released Thursday, and it must still be signed by the nations involved and ratified by their legislatures.
The APHA's action reflects the group's health-in-all-policies approach, which was the theme of its annual meeting and speaks to broadening the scope and context of what falls under the public health umbrella.
Seventeen other policies were adopted this week, including ensuring access to abortion and contraceptives, protecting against the Ebola virus and Lyme disease, encouraging a public health approach to preventing human trafficking and urging health departments to enact climate change adaptation and mitigation plans.
