Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The number of candidates to be the next director general of the World Health Organization was reduced from five to three tonight, with Ethiopia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom still in the running. But in a race as unpredictable as this one, delegates and observers in the hallway were both surprised and not surprised by the outcome as Europe fell to the bottom of the list.
The Medicines Patent Pool announced today that it has signed a license agreement with Johns Hopkins University for a candidate tuberculosis treatment. Although seen as a major step forward by public health groups, they said the agreement does not include guarantees that the treatment that could be brought to the market would be affordable for all.
World Health Organization members took the first step toward choosing the next director general of the UN health agency today as they narrowed the candidates to five. There will be interviews held with the remaining candidates tomorrow, after which the list will be reduced to three until the May World Health Assembly.
The United Nations has established a “technology bank” for least-developed countries that aims to strengthen the science, technology and innovation capacity of LDCs that includes better management of intellectual property rights.
Hundreds of thousands of people visited articles on Intellectual Property Watch last year, and we published nearly 1,000 original articles. The year’s most-visited articles reflected a mix of new ideas and policies worldwide and some recurring issues, with especially heavy attention on stories involving India.
The United Nations General Assembly this month is considering a resolution committing to elevate health issues to the highest levels of foreign policy. The resolution includes references and commitments related to dozens of existing instruments and tools aimed at improving health, including a full range of those on access to medicines, such as patent flexibilities under trade rules, and the recent report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on access to medicines and innovation.
The Executive Board of UNITAID yesterday adopted a resolution on the use of the intellectual property flexibilities enshrined in the global trading system allowing developing countries to facilitate access to affordable medicines.
A new report by two civil society groups explores what they say are discrepancies between European Union and provider country laws implementing the Nagoya Protocol on genetic resources, which they say could lead to legal uncertainties for users and providers.
The International Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organisation, today was granted observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, given business a direct voice in the UN system for the first time ever, the ICC announced.
The United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has released a report on encryption, taking the perspective of human rights.
From extracurricular creativity to global campaigns, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) continues in its activities to raise awareness and explore how universities can best direct their research and innovations towards promoting global access to medicines. In the next year, UAEM will extend its national and international campaigns to address the high prices of medicines, continue to gather support for a global agreement on research and development and build on the mapping alternative R&D initiatives.
The discussion on intellectual property-related barriers to access to medicines was one of the most contentious points of the 39th meeting of the UNAIDS governing board last week. After hours of negotiations, the board agreed that the organisation will keep working on the issue. But developing countries and civil society would have preferred a stronger mandate, according to representatives.