Civil Society Open Letter to World Health Assembly Delegates on Transparency Resolution Negotiations

Posted on by KEI Staff

DATE: Thursday May 9, 2019

RE: Civil Society Open Letter Regarding Harmful Changes to WHA Transparency Resolution

9 May 2019 – Today more than 100 civil society organizations and health experts sent an open letter to World Health Organization (WHO) Member State delegates urging them to oppose harmful proposed changes to the draft World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on transparency to be discussed at the 72nd WHA on May 20-28, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The groups and individuals signing the open letter said they were appalled at proposals put forth at informal negotiations at the WHO on Tuesday May 7, 2019, which, “would make this resolution confusing, weak and practically useless in many areas.”

The open letter called on delegates, “to stand up for a resolution that will be effective in empowering governments and the public to have greater transparency and more equal access to information, in order to have greater power in dealing with the crisis in the pricing of medical technologies.”

The proposed resolution on transparency at the WHA would give the World Health Organization and national governments strong mandates to collect and analyze data on drug prices, R&D costs, clinical trial results and costs, patent landscapes, and more. An April 29 version of the resolution had ten co-sponsors: Italy, Greece, Malaysia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Uganda.

The open letter comes just two days after the May 7 negotiation, and on the eve of the delegates resuming informals on Friday May 10, 2019. The fact that more than one hundred groups and individuals came together in just 48 hours to protest the attack on the transparency resolution illustrates how important is this negotiation, and how much support there is for greater transparency.

A table that shows the 61 proposed changes in the resolution is available here: “Comparison between April 29 and May 7 version of WHA 72 resolution on transparency.” KEI Blog. 8 May 2019. https://www.keionline.org/30681

A PDF version of the open letter is available here:
May9-Civil-Society-Open-Letter-WHA72-Tranparency-Resolution-Negotiations
The open letter follows:

May 9, 2019

Civil Society Open Letter to World Health Assembly Delegates

We are appalled at the proposals by several countries at the May 7, 2019 informal on the World Health Assembly (WHA) transparency resolution. In the April 29, 2019 version, the resolution was focused on transparency, and provided concrete measures to achieve the most useful and practical outcomes.

The 61 brackets to the text, plus other proposed changes, would make this resolution confusing, weak and practically useless in many areas.

It seems clear that several countries, including in particular, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Australia want to derail the transparency initiative, and that Austria and the United States want to weaken key parts.

We urge other WHA Member States to participate in the May 10, 2019 informal, and to stand up for a resolution that will be effective in empowering governments and the public to have greater transparency and more equal access to information, in order to have greater power in dealing with the crisis in the pricing of medical technologies.

Organizations (in alphabetical order)

  1. Acceso Justo al Medicamento (AAJM), (Spain)
  2. Acción Internacional para la Salud – Perú
  3. Action against AIDS Germany
  4. AIDES (France)
  5. AIDS Access Foundation (Thailand)
  6. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
  7. Alianza LAC – Global
  8. All India Drug Action Network
  9. American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
  10. ARAS – The Romanian Association Against AIDS
  11. Ärzte der Welt e.V./ Médecins du Monde Germany
  12. Asociación Argentina de Salud Pública (AASAP)
  13. Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS (ABIA) (Brazil)
  14. Brot für die Welt, Bread for the World (Germany)
  15. BUKO Pharma-Kampagne (Germany)
  16. Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
  17. Cancer Alliance, South Africa
  18. Cáritas Latinoamérica y el Caribe
  19. Centre for Health Science and Law (CHSL)
  20. Citizens’ Health Initiative (Malaysia)
  21. Colombian Council of Bishops
  22. Committee of Oversight and Cooperation in Health (Colombia)
  23. Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) (Malaysia)
  24. Corporación Innovarte (Chile)
  25. Doctors for America
  26. EKPIZO (Consumer Association the Quality of Life) (Greece)
  27. Empower India
  28. End AIDS Now
  29. Essential Inventions
  30. European Alliance for Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines
  31. European Forum for Primary Care
  32. European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
  33. Fundación IFARMA (Colombia)
  34. GAT- Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos (Portugal)
  35. Global Health Advocates
  36. Global Justice Now (UK)
  37. Health Action International (HAI)
  38. Health Action International Asia-Pacific (HAIAP)
  39. Health and Trade Network (HaT)
  40. Health Global Action Project (Health GAP)
  41. Health Innovation in Practice (HIP)
  42. Heart to Heart Foundation, Thailand
  43. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  44. Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
  45. Just Treatment (UK)
  46. KEI Europe (Switzerland)
  47. Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
  48. Korean Pharmacists for Democratic Society (KPDS)
  49. LWC Health
  50. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign
  51. MEZIS (Germany)
  52. Misión Salud (Colombia)
  53. ONG Políticas Farmacéuticas (Chile)
  54. People’s Health Institute (PHI) (South Korea)
  55. People’s Health Movement (PHM)
  56. Positive Malaysian Treatment Access & Advocacy Group (MTAAG+)
  57. Prescrire (France)
  58. Public Eye (Switzerland)
  59. Salud por Derecho (Spain)
  60. Salud y Farmacos (USA)
  61. Section 27 (South Africa)
  62. Stichting Farma ter Verantwoording (Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation) (The Netherlands)
  63. STOPAIDS (UK)
  64. T1International
  65. The Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (Thailand)
  66. Third World Network (TWN)
  67. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) (South Africa)
  68. Treatment Action Group (TAG)
  69. Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT)
  70. Universidades Aliadas por Medicamentos Essenciais (UAEM Brasil)
  71. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
  72. Wemos (The Netherlands)
  73. Yale Global Health Justice Partnership
  74. Yolse (Switzerland)
  75. Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network (YP-CDN)


Individuals (in alphabetical order)

  1. Aidan Hollis. Professor of Economics, University of Calgary.
  2. Amy Kapczynski, Professor of Law, Yale Law School.
  3. Anthony Robbins, MD, MPA, Professor, Tufts University, School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA, Co-Editor, Journal of Public Health Policy.
  4. Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, PhD, Associate Professor of Global Health Policy, Zachary Taylor Smith Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  5. Beverley F Snell, Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), Coordinator – Health Action International Asia Pacific.
  6. Brian Citro. Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
  7. Brook K. Baker, Professor at Law, Northeastern University School of Law
  8. Dinesh Abrol, National Working Group on Patent Laws, India.
  9. Dr. Ellen ‘t Hoen, Medicines Law & Policy.
  10. Dr. Hannes Braberg, Staff Scientist at University of California, San Francisco.
  11. Dr. Jennifer Sellin, Assistant Professor of International & European Law, Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, Maastricht University, and Visiting Professor Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
  12. Dr. Katrina Perehudoff, post doctoral researcher, University of Toronto & Ghent University.
  13. Dr. Krisantha Weerasuriya, Independent Consultant, WHO Retiree and Former Secretary of the Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.
  14. Dr. Mogha Kamal-Yanni, Public health and access to medicines consultant, United Kingdom.
  15. Dr. Rafael J. Pérez Miranda, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – México.
  16. Fifa Rahman, Board Member Unitaid NGO Delegation and PhD Candidate (International Trade and Intellectual Property), University of Leeds.
  17. Gilberto de Lima Lopes Junior, MD, MBA, FAMS. Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Medical Director for International Programs, Associate Director for Global Oncology, Co-Leader, Lung Cancer Site Disease Group, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and the Miller School of Medicine.
  18. Graham Dutfield, Professor of International Governance, School of Law, University of Leeds.
  19. Gregg Gonsalves, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health.
  20. Joel Lexchin, MD. Member Emeriti-School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health, York University.
  21. John Wilbanks, Open Source advocate – United States of America.
  22. Jordan Jarvis. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
  23. Jorge Bermudez, MD, DSc, Head of the Department of Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies, National School of Public Health/ Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Member of the UN Secretary-General High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
  24. Lawrence Gostin, University Professor, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
  25. Marcus Low, Spotlight, South Africa.
  26. Margo A. Bagley, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law, Faculty
    Fellow, Emory Global Health Initiative, Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Collaborator, Harvard University Global Access in Action (GAiA) Program.
  27. Marie-Paule Kieny, PhD. Director of Research, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), Chair, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative Board of Directors.
  28. Melissa Barber. PhD student, Harvard University.
  29. Meri Koivusalo, Prof Global Health and Development, Tampere University, Finland.
  30. Michael H. Davis, Professor, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
  31. Mohan Rao, Former professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU, New Delhi, India.
  32. Ophira Ginsburg, MD. Associate Professor, Department of Population Health, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Director Perlmutter Cancer Center High-Risk Cancer Genetics Program, New York University.
  33. Oscar Lizarazo, Associate Professor, Universidad Nacional Colombia.
  34. Peter Frank Drahos, Professor of Law and Governance, European University Institute.
  35. Peter S. Arno, PhD, Senior Fellow and Director, Health Policy Research, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA.
  36. Phyllis Freeman, JD, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, USA, Co-Editor, Journal of Public Health Policy.
  37. Prof. Dr. H.D. Banta, former director of the Health Program US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and former Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization.
  38. Prof Dr Hans V Hogerzeil, MD, PhD, FRCP, Co-Chair, Lancet Commission on Essential Medicines Policies, Formerly: Director for Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies, WHO, Geneva.
  39. Prof. em. Jan De Maeseneer, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University (Belgium).
  40. Radha Holla Bhar (India).
  41. Reshma Ramachandran, MD, Family Medicine Physician.
  42. Rohit Malpani, Alternate Board Member, Unitaid NGO Delegation.
  43. Salomé Meyer, Cancer Alliance (South Africa).
  44. Shirin Syed, IP Researcher, North Maharashtra University (NMU), Maharashtra,India.
  45. Sol Terlizzi, Academic Coordinator, Master in Intellectual Property, FLACSO Argentina.
  46. Suerie Moon, MPA, PhD. Director of Research at the Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva and Adjunct Lecturer on Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
  47. Thomas Schwarz, Executive Secretary, Medicus Mundi International.
  48. Uma Suthersanen, Advocate and Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Singapore and Professor of International Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary, University of London.
  49. Wilbert Bannenberg, Public Health Consultant, The Netherlands.