Author: Judit Rius

21 May 2009

Today at the World Health Assembly (WHA) the US and EU are opposing that the WHO have a mandate on global research and development norms, including the possibility for Member States to negotiate at WHO a global biomedical R&D treaty.

Developing countries governments made very strong interventions this morning on this issue (among them India, Bolivia, Barbados, Suriname, Bangladesh, Ghana, Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Cuba and Jamaica) and are wondering where are the promises of multilateralism made by the new Obama administration.

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This morning a draft Resolution proposed by the Delegations of Canada, Chile, Iran (Islamic Republic), Japan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Norway and Switzerland was distributed to the 62nd WHA as document A62/A/Conf.Paper No.4

If approved in its current form, the resolution will conclude the Plan of Action with the stakeholders, time frames and progress indicators proposed by the documents distributed by the WHO PHI secretariat this week.

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May 18, 2009

Open Letter to WHO Member States on outstanding components of Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property

Dear WHO Member States,

During the 2008 World Heath Assembly WHO Member States reached unanimous consensus on resolution WHA 61.21 that adopted a Global Strategy and unfinished Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual property.

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Public Health and Consumer Groups respond to 2009 USTR Special 301 Report

Essential Action, AU Program on Information Justice and IP, Knowledge Ecology International, Forum on Democracy and Trade, Health GAP and Oxfam America

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 30, 2009
Contact Info for each organization below with each quotation

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Find below a copy of the KEI submission to the U.S. Copyright Office and the USPTO on a survey on accessible books in Spanish-Speaking Countries.

Survey on Accessible Books in Spanish-Speaking Countries

By Judit Rius Sanjuan, Knowledge Ecology International
April 28, 2009

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The representative from the government of Chile (on behalf of Chile, Nicaragua, Brazil and Uruguay) delivered this very powerful statement this afternoon at WIPO during the Seventeenth Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).

Chile proposed that the WIPO secretariat distributes a questionnaire on copyright exceptions and limitations between all WIPO Member States in order to continue with the information gathering process. Chile remarked on the good experience with the APEC survey on exceptions and limitations.

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ONCE, the National Organization of the Spanish Blind, has written to the Spanish government requesting the support for the WBU WIPO treaty proposal.

ONCE argues that although Spain has a good exception for the blind, the WBU proposal will allow other governments to amend their copyright laws in a similar manner and that this proposal will also have benefits for the trans-border distribution of works. The letter highlights that the WBU treaty proposal will allow the creation of a global platform for the distribution of accessible documents.

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The Chilean National Blind Organization has sent this letter to the Chilean government requesting the support to support the WBU WIPO treaty proposal.

Santiago, 29 de Octubre de 2008.

Sr. Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Don Alejandro Foxley Rioseco
Presente

Estimado Señor Ministro,

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