Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:55:40 -0800 (PST) From: Mike Reynolds <aquaviva11-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Ethnobotany] bio piracy - hoodia patent --- Kat Morgenstern <kmorgenstern-AT-sacredearth.com> wrote: > forwarded message from GRAIN Los Banos: > > TITLE: In Africa the Hoodia cactus keeps men alive. > Now its > secret is > 'stolen' to make us thin > AUTHOR: Antony Barnett > PUBLICATION: The Observer (London) > DATE: 17 June 2001 > URL: > http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,508162,00.html > > NOTE: For further information on the case, contact > Rachel > Wynberg, BioWatch, > South Africa, mailto:rachel-AT-iafrica.com. See also > 'Of Patents and > Pirates' > (GRAIN, July 2000) > http://www.grain.org/publications/pirates-en.cfm#p42 > ________________________________________________________ > > IN AFRICA THE HOODIA CACTUS KEEPS MEN ALIVE. > NOW ITS SECRET IS 'STOLEN' TO MAKE US THIN > > Pharmaceutical firms stand accused of once again > plundering > native lore to > make fortunes from natural remedies, writes Antony > Barnett > > Sunday June 17, 2001 > The Observer > > For thousands of years, African tribesmen have eaten > the Hoodia > cactus to > stave off hunger and thirst on long hunting trips. > > The Kung bushmen who live around the Kalahari desert > in southern > Africa used > to cut off a stem of the cactus about the size of a > cucumber and > munch on it > over a couple of days. According to tradition, they > ate together > so they > brought back what they caught and did not eat while > hunting. > > Now the Hoodia, which grows to 6ft - taller than the > bushmen > themselves - is > at the centre of a bio-piracy row. Campaigners say > the cactus has > attracted > the interest of the Western drug industry, which > exploits > developing > countries through the international patent system. > > In April, when pharmaceutical giants were being > accused of > failing to > provide affordable Aids drugs in Africa, Phytopharm, > a small firm > in > Cambridgeshire, said it had discovered a potential > cure for > obesity derived > from an African cactus. > > It emerged that the company had patented P57, the > appetite-suppressing > ingredient in the Hoodia, hoping it would become a > slimming > miracle. > > Phytopharm's scientists boasted it would have none > of the > side-effects of > many treatments because it was derived from a > natural product. > The discovery > was immediately hailed by the press as a 'dieter's > dream' and > Phytopharm's > share price rose as City traders expected rich > returns from a > drug which > would revolutionise the £6bn market in slimming > aids. Phytopharm > acted > quickly. > > It sold the rights to license the drug for $21m to > Pfizer, the US > > pharmaceutical giant, which hopes to have the > treatment ready in > pill form > within three years. Having made millions from > Viagra, the > impotence drug, > Pfizer now believes it has in its laboratories a > drug that is > going to beat > fat. But it appears that while the drug companies > were busy > seducing the > media, their shareholders and financiers about the > wonders of > their new > drug, they had forgotten to tell the bushmen, whose > knowledge > they had used > and patented. > > Phytopharm's excuse appears to be that it believed > the tribes > which used the > Hoodia cactus were extinct. Richard Dixey, the > firm's > self-proclaimed > Buddhist chief executive, told the Financial Times : > 'We're doing > what we > can to pay back, but it's a really fraught > problem... especially > as the > people who discovered the plant have disappeared.' > > Yet this weekend leaders of the people Dixey > believed had > disappeared are > having their annual gathering at a farm 45 miles > north of Cape > Town. One of > the top items on the agenda is to plan their > strategy against > Phytopharm and > Pfizer. They are angry, saying their ancient > knowledge has been > stolen, and > are about to launch a challenge and demand > compensation. > > Roger Chennells is the lawyer for the tribal > bushmen, who number > 100,000 > across South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. > He argued > their case in > 1999 when the bushmen won 100,000 acres of > white-owned farmland > on the edge > of the Kalahari. > > Speaking to The Observer, Chennells said: 'They are > very > concerned. It feels > like somebody has stolen their family silver and > cashed it in for > a huge > profit. The bushmen do not object to anybody using > their > knowledge to > produce a medicine, but they would have liked the > drug companies > to have > spoken to them first and come to an agreement. > > 'I believe there is grounds for a legal challenge, > but there is > certainly a > strong moral case for the drug companies to pay > proper > compensation to those > whose knowledge they have taken and now claim to > own.' > > Alex Wijeratna, a campaigner for ActionAid, the > international > development > charity, said: 'This is a major case of bio-piracy. > Corporations > are > scouring the globe looking to rip off traditional > knowledge from > some of > poorest communities in the world. Consent or > compensation is > rarely given. > The patent system needs urgent reform to protect the > knowledge > nurtured over > generations by groups like the African bushmen.' > > When presented with news of this weekend's tribal > gathering and > === message truncated == __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com --- from list french-feminism-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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