Blogging the Washington DC HIF presentation

Yesterday December 1 2008, professors Aidan Hollis and Thomas Pogge presented their Health Impact Fund (HIF) proposal at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

The meeting convened and moderated by the President of Georgetown University, Jack deGioia, was attended by 50/60 people and was structured with two presentations by the co-authors and a panel discussion by :

Paul Antony, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director, PhRMA
Lawrence Gostin, J.D., Associate Dean and Timothy and Linda O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
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WKO meeting in Vienna on the Internet

On November 25, 2008, I was invited to give a talk in Vienna, at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce (the WKO). The event was organized by Eva Lichtenberger, a Green Party MEP. Eva also spoke, and gave a great talk, in German. Her slides were in English, and I’ll add them when I can. The outline of my talk is given below.

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WKO meeting in Vienna on the Internet

On November 25, 2008, I was invited to give a talk in Vienna, at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce (the WKO). The event was organized by Eva Lichtenberger, a Green Party MEP. Eva also spoke, and gave a great talk, in German. Her slides were in English, and I’ll add them when I can. The outline of my talk is given below.

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The Health Impact Fund and product monopolies

KEI 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.

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KEI reaction to composition of WHO Expert Working Group on R&D financing

WHO 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.

http://www.who.int/phi/R_Dfinancing/en/index.html

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