The ongoing trade talks between India and the European Union are inflaming passions among some consumer activists, who worry a Free Trade Agreement will limit access to medicines. And so a protest was held in front of the Indian Commerce Ministry in New Delhi in which an effigy of the minister was burnt. And then the police start swinging batons at the members of Delhi Network of Positive People, who are agitating on behalf of people with HIV and AIDS.

Activists say the trade talks include proposals that could delay or restrict Indian generic drug makers by extending patent terms for brand-name meds, requiring data exclusivity and imposing tighter rules on enforcing borders. A recent report in the Journal of the International AIDS Society suggests prices could rise and access delayed to improved meds, and recommends that that “inappropriate” trade deals should not be pursued unless new policies are created (see this).