FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Stuff

How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Could Ruin My Life and Body

For people with autoimmune diseases, the TPP could make our medication exorbitantly expensive and confine us to a life of pain and isolation.

I have a disease called ankylosing spondylitis. It's okay if you haven't heard of it, neither had I before a rheumatologist explained it was the reason I was in crippling pain and couldn't get out of bed unassisted. Today, thanks to a cocktail of drugs subsidised by the New Zealand government, I get up in the morning by myself and lead a relatively normal life. But because of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, (TPP), that Prime Minister John Key is intent on signing, this could change.

Advertisement

The TPP is a huge trade agreement between 12 countries. The details of the agreement are pretty shady, and negotiations around it have been carried out largely in secret. If you're not in government, or the leader of a huge international company, the little you do know about it comes largely from WikiLeaks. But the little I know about it is really freaking me out.

When I got sick I lost heaps of weight and the doctor tested me for HIV and bowel cancer. When these came back negative, they prescribed Panadol. Over the next few months my condition deteriorated until I had to quit my job, move in with my a friend, and spent weeks and lying on his couch in pain and unable to work to look after myself.

In New Zealand a government-funded organisation called Pharmac subsidises medicines like Hurmia. It's the only reason I eventually got off that couch.

Eventually I was referred to the aforementioned rheumatologist who explained I had an autoimmune disease that can cause bone fusing, heart disease, and chronic pain. At the end of our appointment he handed me a pamphlet and a prescription for Hurmia, a drug which falls under the family of Biologics and cost about $24,000 NZD a year.

In New Zealand a government-funded organisation called Pharmac subsidises medicines like Hurmia. It's the only reason I eventually got off that couch.

But documents released by WikiLeaks in June of this year indicated that signing the TPP would undermine Pharmac and potentially make many drugs like Hurmia too expensive for people like myself to afford. Thousands of New Zealanders with diseases like Crohn's disease, MS, and cancer also rely on Biologics.

A number of New Zealand health practitioners and academics have spoken about their concerns over the trade deal and its impact on vulnerable members of the population. Jane Kelsey, Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, recently lodged a case with the High Court to try and force trade minster Tim Groser to release the details of what he's signing our country up for.

The TPP would undermine Pharmac and potentially make many drugs like Hurmia too expensive for people like myself to afford.

Originally the National Party claimed Pharmac wouldn't be affected by the TPP, but after the WikiLeaks documents went public, they admitted this wasn't true. John Key now says the government will top up the extra costs of medicine, but has offered no more information or explanation of what that would look like or how it would work.

While negotiations continuing between the 12 signatories, a few leaked clauses mention abolishing labeling of GM food, tightening copyright laws to restrict Internet freedom, repealing environmental protections, restricting access to generic medicines and increasing health care costs.

But the agreement isn't signed yet, and with protests in Malaysia, Mexico, Chile, America, Japan and Australia, the outcome is far from certain. New Zealand helped lead the way in both the anti-nuclear and anti-apartheid movements, and have continued this tradition by fostering one of the loudest responses. Earlier this year 25,000 residents marched in the rain to protest the deal and ensure mainstream coverage of the issues. I was there, hobbling along, as always glad to be off the couch.

Dominic Hoey is a New Zealand musician who makes hip hop under the name Tourettes.

Image via

For more New Zealand content, like VICE on Facebook