It’s our future – we want a say

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is joining the national rally against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) tomorrow because it believes that public health is too important an issue to be negotiated away in a secret agreement.

NZNO policy analyst, Marilyn Head says, “It is widely acknowledged that the TPPA includes provisions which could increase the cost of healthcare through extending patent periods for medicines and allowing the patenting of treatments, techniques and operations. These provisions could also deter innovation and generic drug production.”

"The government has given assurances that ‘the fundamentals of PHARMAC will be protected’ but it has not provided evidence or analysis from our own institutions to support its assurances, nor any opportunity for public engagement with the health sector that allows them to be tested."

“The TPPA could also deter governments from making decisions that would benefit public health because if private investors, such as tobacco companies, were affected they could sue the government,” Marilyn Head says.

“The potential of the TPPA to affect the health of New Zealanders for generations to come is as important as the potential economic benefits: both must be subject to public scrutiny.”

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