The medical non government organisation, Medicins Sans Frontieres, says it fears the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal could push the cost of drugs to prohibitive levels.
The trade deal, which is being negotiated this week in Malaysia, could include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Japan.
Drugs are key to combatting rampant diseases such as tuberculosis, but the NGO's Australian office understands the US is keen to extend the patent coverage of large drug multi nationals as part of the deal.
Its public affairs manager, Jon Edwards, says similar trade agreements with these clauses have led to drug prices climbing by up to 50 percent.
"We can see in other cases, in other free trade agreements, countries have signed on, knowing that this could be the case, and in fact we are seeing this happening in the case of Jordan at least, And so everyone who is concerned about access to medicines and public health impact needs to be vigilant."
Medicins Sans Frontieres' Jon Edwards.
