Original news and analysis on international IP policy
One hundred years after the great Spanish flu pandemic, World Health Organization members today underlined their satisfaction with the organisation’s framework to get countries best prepared for the next pandemic: The WHO Executive Board agreed on keeping most of the funds coming to the framework for preparedness measures, and a smaller portion for response measures, unless emergency strikes.
After long deliberations, the World Health Organization Executive Board agreed this morning to ask member states and the organisation to implement recommendations aiming at improving innovation and access to medicines. Three recommendations, specifically aimed at member states, including on the transparency on the cost of research and development of medicines, met resistance by some countries and were left hanging, to be discussed by member states with no timeframe.
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has issued the results of a fact-finding study on genetic resources digital genetic information. The study particularly examined terminology and how digital genetic information are influencing its protocol on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. The study called for policymakers to stay abreast of the profound developments shaping research today, and underlined challenges such as the identification of contributors and users, the provenance of sequences, and what the study defined as a "grey area" between non-commercial and commercial research.
The Brazilian ambassador and others this morning at the World Health Organization Executive Board meeting were not going to let go of what seemed to be a delaying tactic by the United States and Japan to postpone agreement on the implementation of measures aimed at facilitating research and development and access to medicines. The WHO Board today is considering a set of streamlined strategic measures on public health, innovation, and intellectual property.
A new report by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) shows "great strides" in mobile phone penetration in least-developed countries. However, those countries are well behind developed countries when it comes to internet usage.
World Health Organization Executive Board members and observer countries today are preparing to discuss recommendations on ways to lower prices and make medicines more accessible. This includes a new proposal to increase transparency in research and development costs that is reportedly causing concern among some developed countries.
Three major international organisations in Geneva dealing with health, trade and intellectual property rights will come together next month to look at how innovative technologies can help to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health.
At the dawn of 2018, political and health leaders must seize the growing momentum and opportunities to tackle the protracted challenges of access to medicines that undermines efforts to save lives and improve health as committed under the Agenda 2030 SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] by all UN member states, write Jorge Bermudez and Viroj Tangcharoensathien.
A network of civil society organisations chose the birthplace of the World Trade Organization, Marrakesh, to hold a global summit on intellectual property and access to medicines this week. Part of the summit focused on stringent IP measures in free trade agreements in particular with the European Union, introducing patent term extension and data exclusivity periods.
The World Health Organization Executive Board meets next week. On the agenda are recommendations of a review group on the WHO Global Strategy on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, and WHO proposed actions to increase access to affordable and safe medicines and diagnosis. The Executive Board is also expected to consider a report on noncommunicable diseases, new possible organisations to enter into official relationships with WHO, and how to address the global burden of snakebites, including access to treatment.