WHO
The World Health Assembly takes step back, but leaves door open, for medical R&D Treaty
Submitted by James Love on 22. May 2009 - 10:08This morning the 62nd session World Health Assembly agreed to a resolution on public health, innovation and intellectual property that, among other things, settled outstanding issues regarding the “stakeholders” for various parts of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action. (GS/PoA). With regard to the issue of a possible medical R&D treaty, the outcome of the negotiation was something of a split decision. On the one hand, the WHA agreed that the WHO would not be a stakeholder, in terms of the specific element of the WHO Global Strategy document.
Divide and rule at the WHO?
Submitted by thiru on 21. May 2009 - 0:37Thursday, 21 May 2009
Delegates at the World Health Assembly will have to grapple with how best to deploy their delegations to simultaneously cover pandemic influenza and resolving the outstanding elements of the WHO IGWG Plan of Action.
Today’s WHO Journal lists the following morning schedule for Committee A.
Item 11 (continued) Medium-strategic plan, including Proposed Programme budget 2010-2011
To consider appropriation resolution for financial period 2010-2011
Item 12 (continued) Technical and health matters
WHO releases document detailing stakeholder implementation of Global Strategy: Public health, innovation and IP
Submitted by thiru on 18. May 2009 - 2:47On Monday, 18 May 2009, WHO released document A62/16 Add.3 entitled “Open paragraphs on stakeholders“.
The link for this document is: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/A62/A62_16Add3-en.pdf
The cover sheet of this document states:
NGO views: World Health Organization (WHO) voice on issue of medicines in transit to developing countries?
Submitted by thiru on 13. March 2009 - 3:51On 18 February 2009, 16 civil society groups sent a letter to Director-General Dr. Chan on the matter of the Dutch seizures of generic medicines in-transit to developing countries. In the letter, Dr.
Statement by Brazil at TRIPS Council: Public Health dimension of TRIPS Agreement
Submitted by thiru on 4. March 2009 - 6:22On 3 March 2009, the following intervention was delivered by Ambassador Roberto Azevêdo, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO and other economic organizations in Geneva.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
TRIPS Council
Agenda item ‘M’ – OTHER BUSINESS – Public Health dimension of TRIPS Agreement
Statement by Brazil
Mr. Chairman,
$2 billion and $147 billion: WHO releases detailed costing estimates for implementing WHO IGWG plan of action
Submitted by thiru on 22. January 2009 - 8:31On 21 January 2009, WHO released a document (EB124/16 Add.2) relating to the global strategy and plan of action of the public health, innovation and intellectual strand of its work entitled “Proposed time frames and estimated funding needs“. This document is a costing exercise to “estimate funding needs for the implementation of the plan”.
The Health Impact Fund and product monopolies
Submitted by James Love on 17. November 2008 - 11:00KEI will later issue a more detailed comment on the Health Impact Fund. One of the key issues that will be addressed is the way that Hollis and Pogge propose turning the prize fund proposals that are based upon open licensing of patents into something that reinforces the monopoly supply chain.
We understand that one motivation for doing this was to attract support from some large pharmaceutical companies, and the European governments that protect them.
KEI reaction to composition of WHO Expert Working Group on R&D financing
Submitted by James Love on 14. November 2008 - 11:00WHO has announced the names for the Expert Working Group on R&D financing
We don’t know everyone on the list, but for the people that we do know, we are generally impressed. The WHO seems to have created a body with considerable expertise and reputation, and included people who will consider new ideas. This seems like a very good start.
Colombian Submission to the WHO IGWG negotiation
Submitted by Judit Rius on 6. March 2008 - 22:28By resolution WHA 59.24, the WHO’s Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property (IGWG) has the goal of producing a Global Strategy and Plan of Action that will implement the CIPIH report recommendations and “secure an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries, proposing cle
Sweden, acting badly
Submitted by James Love on 9. November 2007 - 12:45I’m not sure who has been sharing this on the list, but the very worst country in the negotiations, among the 190+ members of the WHO, is, without a doubt, Sweden. Sweden has been making it very difficult for Europe to take reasonable positions in the negotiations, and Sweden is consistently taking the most extreme positions in the negotiations among the European countries, and competing with Mexico for the most anti-consumer views in the room.
