On 2 February 2017, MEP Lola Sánchez Caldentey (Podemos, Spain) tabled a series of written questions to the European Commission on the positions taken by the European Union at the World Intellectual Property Organization on 14 December 2016 in relation to the United Nations High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines (UN HLP)
The Cámara de Diputados of the Chilean Congress voted on January 25, 2017 in favor of Resolution 798, calling on the government to implement compulsory licenses on drugs for cancer and other diseases. The vote was 67 yes, 0 no, and 32 abstentions. The resolution was put forward by Giorgio Jackson and six other members (V. Mirosevic, Miguel Alvarado, Karla Rubilar, Juan Luis Castro, Gabriel Boric, and Victor Torres). Continue Reading
On the morning of Monday, 23 January 2017, India delivered the following intervention at the 140th session of the World Health Organization’s Executive Board requesting the “explicit inclusion” of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel Report in the “provisional agenda of the EB140 as a separate agenda item under item 8.”
In making the case for the inclusion of the UN HLP in the WHO’s Executive Board deliberations, India articulate the following:
On Thursday, 15 December 2016, South Africa delivered this poignant, closing statement at WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). Negotiations broke down on the issue of future work, as the European Union and Group B refused to permit discussions of the Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines at future sessions of the SCP.
According to the WIPO website,
On 7 December 2016, Justice Michael Kirby delivered the following keynote speech at the 39th Meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board during discussions on intellectual property and access to medicines. Justice Kirby served as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines.
UNAIDS
PROGRAMME COORDINATING BOARD
39TH MEETING, WHO, GENEVA
AGENDA ITEM 6, 7 DECEMBER 2016HIV/AIDS & SOLIDARITY – 30 YEARS ON*
Michael Kirby**
SCP25: Statement of Asia Pacific Group on Patents and Health
On Tuesday, 13 December 2016, India delivered the following statement on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group during WIPO discussions on patents and health.
Statement by India on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group on the Agenda Item – Patents and Health – delivered by Dr. Sumit Seth, First Secretary (Economic Affairs) on 13 December 2016Madam Chair,
India has the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Group. The group would like to make 3 concrete points related to this agenda item
SCP 25: Opening statement of Knowledge Ecology International
On Monday, 12 December 2016, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered its opening statement to the 25th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP).
KEI Opening Statement, for SCP 25
12 December 2016KEI will discuss two topics. The first concerns government rights in patented inventions, when the government funds or partly funds the research.
PCB39: Eight hour drafting session charts future course for UNAIDS work program on Intellectual Property and the UN HLP
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) held the 39th Meeting of its Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) from 6-8 December 2016 in Geneva Switzerland. In his opening speech on Tuesday, 6 December 2016, Michel Sidibé (Executive Director, UNAIDS) paid tribute to the life of Australian national Katie Kirk – who passed away on 20 October 2016 while on mission in Indonesia.
In his speech, Sidibé noted:
PCB39: Statement of Knowledge Ecology International on Agenda item 6: UNAIDS synthesis report on IP
On Wednesday, 7 December 2016 Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered the following statement at the 39th session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) during discussions of agenda item 6 entitled, “Synthesis report of existing research and literature on intellectual property-related and other factors impacting the availability, affordability, and accessibility of treatment and diagnostics for HIV and co-infections in low and middle-income countries.”
UNAIDS PCB 39: Statement of India on the Executive Director’s Report to the 39th PCB
On Tuesday, 6 December 2016, the delegation of India delivered the following intervention at the 39th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) Meeting.
India declared that she had “recently crossed the milestone of treating 1 million HIV patients with free Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).”
I will first briefly share efforts made by India to implement the Fast track Strategy. A number of major policy decisions have been taken recently towards achieving the 90-90-90 targets.