BeIR/webis-touche2020 huggingface dataset:
The Consequences of the Huge Cost of the Plan

The prop have indicated from the beginning that they want their fund to be 0.6% of GDP. This figure, we have pointed out amounts to $348 billion a year. This is an astronomically large amount. To justify this, they have said it will save money on drugs in the medium term. They have said generic drugs save $8-10 billion a year, a pitifully small figure by comparison. It would actually be much, cheaper to provide money simply to buy the drugs off the companies, when you consider the amount of money being discussed. For example, 33.2 million aids sufferers x $1000 (the costs without bypassing patents) = $33.2 billion. We've also explained why the costs of the prop plan will cost more than patents, because of the need for incentives. There are limits to the amount of money that can be put towards charities and funds such as this. The amount proposed by prop is actually more than the current total aid given by Western countries to the developing worldIt wouldn't require a $348 billion burden on the world to see change; this is an unrealistic approach, Where would it come from? Most nations are in debt[[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html]] they won’t give up more money they don’t have. Would it be re-allocation of current aid money, which would lead to significant harms, because with $350 billion you could do so much more than declare a moral crusade against the pharmaceutical industry. The FAO estimates $30 Billion/year to solve world food problems[[http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000853/index]] what could struggling countries do if they had $350 billion to help, they could even buy the drugs at the inflated prices, it is ridiculous to simply spend this money on a moral imperative when it could save the people the prop wants to help if the resources were allocated more efficiently to the places and organizations that need it. The props model gets in the way of their problem, it is just frivolous.
Patents Stifle Innovation on Life-Saving drugs. Our Plan Embraces it

Joseph Stiglitz "Research needs money, but the current system results in limited funds being spent in the wrong way." The status quo allows the market to decide which drugs are worth researching on the basis of maximising profits. One of the main arguments raised by opponents of this measure concerns the necessity of incentives to motivate firms to invest resources. Diseases that affect those in the West get more attention than the killing diseases that affect millions predominantly in the developing world because the West is a richer market that can be “milked” for much more profit than life-saving drugs can offer. [[http://www.naturalnews.com/020345.html]] Research into life-saving drugs is under provided in the commercial sector and as a result “far from being a font of innovation, the drug market has become "stagnant" [when it comes to life-saving drugs]”[[http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-the-hidden-truth-behind-drug-company-profits-1767257.html]]. Firms are motivated to “squander a fortune developing medicines that do exactly the same job as a drug that already exists, but has one molecule different, so they can take out a new patent, and get [more] profits.” [[Ibid.]] The existing system of drug manufacturing is not one that encourages innovation but one that stifles it. The focus is not on providing new, better medication for life-saving diseases but on making profits and profits and profits at the detriment of good medicine. Our plan would incentivise the research and development of life-saving drugs by awarding sizeable prizes to both cover (together with revenue from drug sales) the cost of production and incentivize research specifically into life-saving medication. As opposed to the current winner takes it all system where the one firm who completes the product gets all the profits we would encourage cooperation by rewarding all firms involved in making a new drug, thus embracing i
The world we should not live in.

Its such a shame that even the bright minds of New Zealand are so subdued to the immorality of the current system. The practice of patents promotes the concept that the production of life- saving drugs is a multi-million dollar business and nothing else. We, the proposition, believe that human life is sacred and cannot be measured out by twenty year monopolies for huge financial gain. The opp claims, "Firstly, goods and services demanded by the West will always be more profitable .. We don't force Apple to produce food parcels for Africa instead of iPods for the West”. Goods demanded by west might be more profitable but we draw the line when this 'good' is medicine. It's sad we need to clarify the difference between an ipod and human life. An ipod is a luxury, human life is a right and a right for everyone, not just the rich. The proposition understands that the drug industry is in some ways, driven by profit.R&D is costly, but this is why instead of having exclusivity of a drug, which prevents cheaper generics to be sold, we are offering them a huge prize for finding a cure!This way they are awarded and other pharmaceutical companies can develop the same drug cheaply to prevent the premature deaths of millions who can't afford brand drugs. But opp has failed to understand that the incentives for coming up with such a revolutionary product, is not just monetary. Money matters, but the main purposes of science is to save human life! Altruism still exists in the academic world of science. When Jonas Salle was asked why he had not patented his discovery of the polio vaccine, he said “it would be like patenting the sun”. The current patent system on potentially life-saving drugs by pharmaceutical giants is 'morally unacceptable’.Our plan, which provides both monetary incentive to companies and allows the development of generic drugs, is realistic, ethical and will save millions of innocent lives. [[medicineshttp//www.physorg.com/print13548519.html]]
Consequences of the Loss of Incentives.

So on the one hand you claim people in Africa can buy the drugs cheaply after the patents end and on the other you are telling us old drugs are useless because of viral resistance. Indeed this makes it all the more important to encourage innovation. We have been accused of wanting to “ change the focus of drug production from the development of new drugs to the cheaper production of drugs that already exist.”. Apart from the fact that these two aren’t mutually exclusive this accusation naively assumes what there currently IS a focus on production of new life-saving drugs. However, “the current systems of innovation encourage drug firms to spend too much on developing minor modifications of existing drugs and on competitive marketing and patent litigation, instead of focusing efforts on innovations that will have the largest global health impact.”[[ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/08/31/opinion/Proposed-health-fund-could-encourage-drug-developm-30136907.html%5D%5D. Currently “firms have incentives to focus on the diseases of people who can pay a lot of money when they get sick, even though those diseases tend to have many available treatments already, and the incremental health gains are typically small.” [[Ibid.]]. “Profit made by pharmaceutical firms is not, in fact, a return on their R&D, but is, instead, a return on their marketing investments”[[http://www.researchoninnovation.org/WordPress/?cat=4]] and as a result there is less incentive to make genuine investment that is aimed at the medical breakthroughs we need to address the problems you mention. Our plan changes all this. R&D is encouraged and is directly related to profit. We create a fund that is able to attract investment in research where it is most needed fulfilling the aspirations of scientists and the needs of patients. It will directly encourage greater and more meaning full investment spending.
Benefits do not outweigh the costs.

Ah..so we need to develop drugs because of viruses grow immune but the millions in developing countries inflicted with HIV can wait 20 years to get the new ones. Doesn't immunity develop faster where the prevalence of the disease is highest? Doesn't that suggest that maybe Africa should be getting all the new drugs at prices that wouldn't make Harrods blush for a change? Oh and no drug prices aren't decreasing [[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_9_26/ai_n6122102/]] but even if they were we don't feel a price reduction that makes a drug that used to only be affordable by the developing country equivalent of Bill Gates now accessible for local rockstars is cause for celebration. 0.6% GDP is a lot of money. We realize this. But what could be more important than spending money on medicine and saving lives of millions? In addition, our plan would save money for governments in the medium term by means of reduced drug premiums and more efficient drug research. The opposition have suggested that the way to reduce illness is not accessible drugs but reducing poverty. This is a fundamental and very dangerous misapprehension by side Opp since the principal causal relationship runs from illness to poverty. When a country can't afford to buy medicine for its people and make them get well, how exactly is it supposed to function properly and improve its living standards? Sickness is the underlying problem.ln South Africa, one-in-three women aged 25-29, and over a quarter of men aged 30-34, are living with HIV.In 2001, when the pharmaceutical companies took South Africa to court, 4.2 million had Aids.In 2009 that figure rose to 5.7 million. Clearly, the 'agreement they made' (after suing the country!) did not provide any solution.[[http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm]] Therefore, fighting poverty wont work unless people are healthy and able to work. Under our model, just as effective and much cheaper generic drugs will be allowed,sold and will save millions.
Patents Cost Lives, our Plan Saves Them

The proposition seems to not understand the nature in which pharmaceutical companies price and market their products to the developing world. The proposition's example of South Africa shows that there was significant demand for the drug in that country. The pharmaceutical companies responded to this. The pharmaceutical companies and the South African government came to a deal where the companies would sell the AIDS drug for $1,000 (instead of the Western $10,000 price).[[http://www.globalaging.org/health/world/victory.htm]] They did this because the companies knew they could make higher profits selling at the lower price. In this example, the pharmaceutical companies performed what is called 'price discrimination'. This means they sold their products at different prices to different buyers. The companies understood that South Africa was poorer than the West and therefore South African's had much lower reservation prices. Therefore, they sold their drugs for less in South Africa (if they sold at Western prices, they wouldn't sell nearly as much). If the proposition's model was enacted before this AIDS drug was invented, it is most likely it would never have come to the market in the first place. This is because the pharmaceutical companies would have had little incentive to produce a product that they would not be able to gain a patent on. In the future, new and better drugs can and will be possible to be produced. Under the proposition's model, there will be far less incentive for companies to research, test and produce these. Their model does not save lives, it costs lives. Drugs are still sold to the developing world. Future live-saving drugs will not be produced.
Why we save more lives

Firstly under plan you can pay scientists double the bonuses they get paid and still get the job done way below the current cost. This is because we won’t have to pay $6-10 million a year for the CEO of the firm in question or billions in publicity. We’re also providing incentives for the same companies to research novel drugs. Rather than fret over prices remaining high for 20 years (hence the lobbying & publicity billions) to make a profit we're allowing them a generous R&D-linked profit on delivery. Secondly, we have the preposterous claim that university research is funded by corporations! The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry lobby group, estimates that private industry finances only about 43% of drug development! [[http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118638]] Our plan allows for universities and government institutions to take on more research and even provide them with concrete benefits. Thirdly, more than 69% of those with HIV lack access to the medication to treat it.[[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7430835.stm]] Rather than pay the current prices for that 69% for as long as they need them what we do is pay for them in a drastically cheaper one-off payment that would allow for generic copies to be made ad infinitum. This way we also don't endorse current practice that actively discourages innovation but instead create a new regime that truly rewards it allowing everyone to benefit from genuinely novel drugs. Fourthly, the opp has argued our plan would not encourage cheaper drugs with the same effects to be produced. Of course not! If we create generic drugs, accessible to all why need a “new” drug that does exactly the same? This is what happens under the status quo;companies creating useless “me-too drugs” one after the other rather than researching into novel drugs that have something to offer. Rather than see this lack of innovation as a problem they are offering its solution as an argument ag
Patens are grossly inefficient. Our Plan Rewards Results

Firstly, it is not true that it only cost $70 million to fund a drug research/production. The costs are significantly higher into $100-$800 million range. On the issue of marketing, marketing costs will be higher under the proposition model. Under the status quo, firms with patents don't need to market much because they already have a product that no one else can sell. Under the ned model, firms that are now producing the exact same drug now need to spend significant sums on marketing to attempt to differentiate their product.[[www.galbithink.org/cc4m.pdf]] Also the prop seems to be saying that they would be apying for all the R&D of these multiple companies because as soon as then info is out there that's it there are no more costs, this is not true, there a re production costs, labour costs, marketing costs (which will balloon), not to mention the initial start up fees. What is the great incentive for a company to enter this market if it's chances for profit are minimized? The prop essentially reduces the incentives for R&D for life saving drugs by creating a situation buinesses won't want to be in if they don't have to and the prop has also showed how drug comapnies do trend towards making more cosmetic drugs such as hair loss treatments, which they could still patent under the model. So why would a company choose aa lower profit margin at cost over a possible massive profit with costs, for a business it just doesn't make sense why they would choose to create important medication when there is very little in ot for them and this is the situation the prop will be creating.
Summary Greece

This debate has come down to three main problems in the status quo and how our plan adresses them. Our plan saves lives. Under the status quo millions lack access to available due to their high cost. The oppositions main reply to this was to draw parallels between life saving drugs and i-pods: "We don't force Apple to produce food parcels for Africa instead of iPods for the West". Apart from the fact that we're not forcing them,we're providing a set of incentives for the market to deliver desired outcomes (more and cheaper life-saving drugs). None of the opps suggestions address the problem without causing other ones as well. Their proposal regarding giving aid does not take into account the global importance of cheap living-saving medication available to all and the fact that the suppression of killing disease is a prerequisite for the resolution of poverty. Disease reduces productivity in developing countries, spreads over borders and creates instability. Addressing it is necessary in order to give these countries a chance for aid to make a concrete difference. Aside from that our plans are not even mutually-exclusive. Our plan will reinvigorate innovation into new life-saving drugs. The opposition has at no point addressed the current stagnation of real innovation into new drugs and has actually embraced it by accusing our plan of solving it. Because as they have admitted "goods and services demanded by the West will always be more profitable" currently firms choose to focus on non-life-saving drugs that can sell in the West. Our system would stimulate investment by firms by granting them a direct and sizeable profit tied with R&D. It would allow more research to be undertaken by governmental university labs and our cost-savings would allow us to hire the some of the best scientists without losing a beat. They have countered our arguments by claiming that corporations fund university research (factually inaccurate) and that corporations will choose to focus on non-life saving drugs (the status quo) without explain why providing a good profit upfront is not going to incentivize firms. Our plan is much more efficient and sustainable than any alternative suggested by the opposition. This plan for 0,6% GDP over about 4-5 years is much more cost efficient in the middle-term (3 years) than any other alternative and its benefits more long-lasting. We are not government economists nor will we attempt to be by telling you exactly where that money is coming from from governmental budgets (I'd go for military spending). The status quo overcharges for much less spending on R&D that's not even on novel drugs. The opp's suggestion we buy drugs for the lifetime of the 69% of sufferers that dont get them is a waste of resources in the long-run and fails to address the structural problem of lack of innovation. So, because our plan gives millions the freedom to live not just freedom to die ,is more efficient and stimulates research we proudly stand in prop
Consequences of the Loss of Incentives.

What are the consequences of this? Whatever current drugs we can bypass are all very well, but AIDS is hardly the single life-threatening illness on the planet. Drug companies are trying to develop cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes and more [[http://www.ipi.org/IPI%5CIPIPublications.nsf/PublicationLookupFullText/20D973FFEBDCBA23862568E0006F1909]], and will likely want to develop more cures for illnesses that come up in the future, as they did for swine flu, if they can get a return on the investment. If there is not a significant return to investment, a company will not bother to continue to research and develop these drugs. Even if the current drugs were released for generic development, lack of future drugs would cost far more lives in the long run, and save money on alternative treatments [[http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/rnd/riggs01172004.html]]. Furthermore, most things that cause illness, such as viruses and bacteria, develop so that they can resist drugs [[http://www.stopmalarianow.org/research.html?&L=10]]. We have seen this in the case of the increased ineffectiveness of antibiotics. Prop wants to change the focus of drug production from the development of new drugs to the cheaper production of drugs that already exist. This will happen because any start-up company or investor in the drugs industry will see that it is cheaper to simply create the drugs, rather than put money into research and development, which is the most expensive part of the drugs creation process [[http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/rnd/riggs01172004.html]]. If there is a greater focus on this, then less new drugs will be created to combat the illnesses. This structure begins to look very flawed as the illnesses develop resistances to old drugs. There needs to be a continuing incentive to create new drugs for any illness, not to simply focus on old drugs being created in larger, cheaper amounts. It is worth slightly more expensive drugs if new innovation is constantly able to happen
Benefits do not outweigh the costs.

Under the status quo we are seeing increased competition between different drugs and pharmaceutical companies. Prices are falling[[http://www.avert.org/generic.htm]]; furthermore we see that generic AIDS drugs being sold at even lower prices after the patents expire. Under the status quo, prices are falling. The proposition's proposes that 0.6% of world GDP go toward this pool. That is roughly $348 billion going towards essentially a short term solution. Let's be clear, $348 billion is a lot of money. This is greater than the annual government deficit of the United Kingdom. This money could have been spent on aid and other health programmes, so in order to win this debate the proposition needs to prove a massive benefit that results from such a huge sum of money. It is not justified to spend $348 billion when it firstly brings no benefit in the short term and secondly brings huge harms in the long term. We need to loom at the larger issue of poverty, where governments and people live on very limited incomes. Many drugs sold to the developing world (even those without patents) are very cheap, it's just these countries are so poor they can't afford them. We don’t believe it is justified to spend over $348 billion which won’t help the real underlying problem, that being poverty. We belive that this is too costly when the same amount could actually be used help the poverty issue. It is better to stop someone getting malaria by giving them a mosquito net than a pill to possibly help AFTER they have the illness. The proposition's massive cost just seems disproportionate, especially because people will still be getting sick and dying. The proposition have attacked the patent system on moral grounds without proving a reasonable link as to why it will help the millions who are and will be dying of illness across the world.