Oxfam strongly welcomes the European Parliament’s vote against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) by a majority of 478 votes out of 682. ACTA would have posed a serious

New Oxfam report: The proliferation of substandard medicines in poor countries is being used by rich countries as an excuse to tighten intellectual property rules, boosting the profits of large pharmaceutical companies while making it harder for poor people to get access to the medicines they need.

Poor-quality, or “substandard”, medicines threaten patients and public health in developing countries.

As the next round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations get underway this week, Oxfam has called on the negotiating parties to ensure the Agreement does not erect new barriers that prevent generic medicines from reaching poor countries.