Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Country officials, academics and leading global health advocates this week raised one of the key concerns of this year’s World Health Assembly: innovation and access to medicines in middle-income countries. Government procurement strategies, voluntary and compulsory licensing, de-linkage models and UNITAID mechanisms were among some of the solutions put forward.
Member states today unanimously adopted a resolution on hepatitis drafted by the Executive Board meeting in January 2014, with two small amendments decided upon in informal intersessional consultations since the Board meeting.
Immunization coverage in many developing countries remains low and even shows a decrease in some cases, according to the report of a World Health Organization advisory group of experts, to be noted by this week’s World Health Assembly. A number of developing countries yesterday underlined the high cost of new vaccines and asked that the WHO help them campaign for lower prices.
The World Health Assembly on 21 May approved a resolution on global strategy and targets for tuberculosis prevention, care and control after 2015, which includes a new multisectoral strategic approach and bold targets to bring an end to the global epidemic by 2035.
Multiple stakeholders are pushing for a World Health Organization-led global action plan to curb antimicrobial resistance.
A new document on efforts to find innovative financing for neglected diseases has been made available today at the World Health Assembly.
Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation addressed the World Health Assembly today, highlighting a new initiative on newborns. And at a press conference earlier in the day, a senior colleague signalled support for WHO Director General Margaret Chan’s strong concern yesterday about possible negative effects of free trade agreements on access to affordable medicines.
At a side event to the opening of the 2014 World Health Assembly, strong statements were made by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) country ministers and representatives to assume leadership and cooperate to tackle the issue of inaccessibility to affordable medicines in theirs and developing countries.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan opened the annual World Health Assembly today with strong calls to address a wide range of top health concerns across the world. This included a call for the global health community to work to assert the primacy of health concerns over economic interests.
The International Organisation of la Francophonie in collaboration with French pharmaceutical umbrella organisation "les Entreprises du médicaments," organised a roundtable on non-communicable diseases on the eve of the annual World Health Assembly.
Several health ministers as well as various stakeholders were invited to discuss "the fight against non-communicable diseases: a shared responsibility" on 18 May.
A new report from the World Health Organization concludes that prices of HIV treatments vary greatly between middle-income countries (MICs), often depending on patent landscape, licensing agreements, whether drugs were sourced from originator companies, and regulatory approval. For third-line treatments, the price of drugs remains a challenge for all, with newer products more likely to be patented in key countries of production.
The annual World Health Assembly kicks off next week with a full agenda of new and old public health issues, including several related to intellectual property, pricing, and research and development. Below is a guide to the key issues for Intellectual Property Watch readers.