Original news and analysis on international IP policy
“A moment of real historic significance for the World Trade Organization” was the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) together with the amendment to Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said this week.
After what was described as the biggest World Health Assembly ever, with the highest number of agenda items and the highest attendance, it seemed that all’s well that ends well at the closing ceremony earlier today. A notable fact during this assembly has been the rising volume of voices from developing countries, joined by developed countries on issues related to access to affordable, safe, and efficacious medicines. Resolutions and decisions were adopted, many with hopes of better addressing challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, cancer, substandard and falsified medical products, medicines access and shortages and more.
The “delicious acronym SSFFC” - as described by Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general for Health Systems and Innovation at the World Health Organization - will no longer be used by WHO to describe substandard and fake medical products, when a committee's decision is adopted by the full World Health Assembly tomorrow. And key to this decision is that protection of intellectual property rights is not a competence of the UN health agency.
Even though important milestones in the elimination of rubella and measles have been achieved worldwide, key challenges remain, presenters said during a technical briefing organised by the World Health Organization last week.
The World Intellectual Property Organization this week has striven to show its commitment to contributing to the debate on intellectual property and health, and the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, through advancement of its Re:Search program for the next five years.
The World Health Organization has launched a public consultation on the Draft Research and Development Blueprint Material Transfer Agreement tool text.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) last week approved and extended a project implementing the WIPO Development Agenda in the areas of design protection, and a “game-changer” IP management and technology transfer project, and a conference for least-developed countries on copyright.
Noncommunicable diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, cause 80 percent of deaths worldwide. Cities play an important role in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases and injuries as around half of the world population lives in urban settings, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies.
It might be said it is a “golden moment” for fighting noncommunicable diseases. There have never been as many side events on noncommunicable diseases during the World Health Assembly as this year, according to speakers at an event of the NCD Alliance this week.
The 70th annual World Health Assembly kicked off today with the focus of thousands on the grand plenary hall in United Nations headquarters in Geneva. But in the surrounding rooms and buildings in and outside of the UN, a wide array of side events is taking place. IP-Watch's Global Health Policy News took a look at a selection of these events and found this year a stronger focus has emerged on the subject of health security and the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are occurring alongside the usual disease-specific events and those on various sectors of humanity, the focus on access to medical products, and a variety of other current topics.
Shortages of vaccines are a worldwide problem with tremendous impact on health, affecting countries of all income groups and regions, speakers said at a recent industry event. Different possible solutions for shortages of vaccines were suggested during the panel discussion.
An academic conference this month will explore issues related to innovation, research and competition in the European Union, addressing topics such as 5G, big data, patents and standards.